A SORRY EXCUSE, , BUBBA!
Plays vic, says forget a Monica apology
Former President Bill Clinton insisted he doesn’t owe a personal apology to Monica Lewinsky — as he shot back at criticism spurred by the #MeToo movement.
“I apologized to everybody in the world,” Clinton, 71, told NBC’s “Today” show in an interview that aired Monday. “The apology was public.”
Asked whether he owed the former White House intern a direct apology, he replied, “No, I do not.”
In a March essay for Vanity Fair, Lewinsky, 44, wrote she is still traumatized by the public scrutiny she had to endure after being identified as the woman in the middle of a sex scandal with a sitting president.
She wrote that Clinton should have known better because he was “at the pinnacle of his career while I was just starting my first job out of college,” when she was 22.
Lewinsky didn’t respond directly to Clinton, but tweeted:
“Grateful to the myriad people who have helped me evolve + gain perspective in the past 20 years,” along with her Vanity Fair piece.
Asked if he looked back on the ordeal differently in light of the #MeToo movement and whether he felt responsibility, the 42nd president portrayed himself as the victim.
He griped that he’d “left the White House $16 million in debt” personally and that the media always omitted “gaping” facts to make the story work against him.
“This was litigated 20 years ago. Two-thirds of the American people sided with me. They were not insensitive to that,” he said.
Still, some Democrats, including New York Sen. Kristen Gillibrand, have suggested Clinton should have resigned in 1998 over Sexgate, but he said he wouldn’t change how he handled the tacky saga.
“Well, I don’t think it would be an issue, because people would be using the facts instead of the imagined facts. If the facts were the same today, I wouldn’t,” he said. “You think President Kennedy should resign?
“I dealt with it 20 years ago, plus, and the American people, two-thirds of them stayed with me. That’s all I have to say to you.”
Clinton claimed people were pouncing on him now only because they were frustrated with President Trump, who has been accused by multiple women of inappropriate sexual behavior. Trump has denied all of the accusations.
Donald Trump Jr., on Twitter, called Clinton’s comments “Balsy! Stupid . . . but Balsy!!!” and sarcastically gave him “props” for appearing to claim victimhood.
“Did Bill Clinton just #metoo Monica Lewinsky???” tweeted Donald Jr. “I (almost) have no words. Props for always being ahead of the curve as the first male to publicly somehow claim victim-hood from his actions against women.”
Actress Rose McGowan, one of the leading voices in the #MeToo movement, slammed Clinton on Twitter: “Bill Clinton. Here is the truth of it: a human life was altered & destroyed due to your selfishness. Because. You. Could.
“You not only wiped your semen on a young girl’s dress, you left a stain on society. You actually owe EVERYONE an apology, especially her.”
Clinton was on “Today” to promote a novel he co-write with mystery author James Patterson. Many Twitter users pointed out that he seemed unprepared for the questions asked by NBC’s Craig Melvin.
“It’s astonishing how unready he is,” tweeted freelance journalist Irin Carmon.
By Monday night, Clinton tried to backpedal.
During an appearance at The Schomburg Center in Harlem, CNN reported that Clinton said of his NBC chat, “The truth is, the hubbub was [that] I got hot under the collar because of the way the questions were asked. And I think what was lost were the two points that I made that are important to me.”
“The suggestion was that I never apologized for what caused all the trouble for me 20 years ago,” Clinton added. “First point is, I did. I meant it then, I meant it now. I apologized to my family, to Monica Lewinsky and her family and to the American people before a panel of ministers in the White House, which was widely reported.”
Clinton was referencing a 1998 mea culpa he made during a meeting of ministers at the National Prayer Breakfast.