Washington: Former US President Bill Clinton defended himself on Monday regarding his affair with Monica Lewinsky in light of the #MeToo movement and said he does not plan to apologize privately to her.
Asked if he owed Lewinsky an apology, Clinton during an appearence on NBC News’ Today show said: “No, I do not — I have never talked to her. But I did say publicly on more than one occasion that I was sorry. That’s very different. The apology was public.”
Their relationship came to light in 1998. While in office, Clinton had at first denied his affair with Lewinsky, then a fresh-out-of-college White House intern, and later admitted to it with an apology. The scandal led to his impeachment trial, which resulted in him being acquitted.
Clinton said he would not have changed how he handled the controversy and said he would not have resigned if the scandal were to have occurred in this new era. “I think I did the right thing,” he said. “I defended the Constitution.”
“A lot of the facts have been conveniently omitted to make the story work, I think partly because they’re frustrated that they got all these serious allegations against the current occupant of the Oval Office and his voters don’t seem to care,” Clinton said, pointing to a series of sexual misconduct allegations against current President Donald Trump.
In an essay for Vanity Fair published earlier this year, Lewinsky questioned the narrative surrounding the affair, which played a central role in Clinton’s eventual impeachment.
“Now, at 44, I’m beginning (just beginning) to consider the implications of power differentials that were so vast between a President and a White House intern,” she wrote. “I’m beginning to entertain the notion that in such a circumstance the idea of consent might well be rendered moot.”
Clinton, in his public apology, had said that he had “sinned”.
“I don’t think there is a fancy way to say that I have sinned. It is important to me that everybody who has been hurt know that the sorrow I feel is genuine — first and most important, my family, also my friends, my staff, my Cabinet, Monica Lewinsky and her family, and the American people.”
The former President told The TODAY Show the #MeToo movement was “way overdue”. “I think that it doesn’t mean I agree with everything,” he added. “I still have some questions about some of the decisions which have been made.”
As for his affair with Lewinksy, Clinton said: “This was litigated 20 years ago. Two-thirds of the American people sided with me.”
