Monica Lewinsky, the former White House intern at the center of a major scandal, believes Bill Clinton should have resigned after Congress voted to impeach him for lying about their affair. In a “Call Her Daddy” podcast interview, she argued Clinton should have either resigned or found a way to protect her from public scrutiny. While acknowledging her own mistakes, Lewinsky stated that Clinton’s actions were more reprehensible. She asserted their relationship was consensual but emphasized that it was Clinton’s responsibility not to place her in such a position. Reflecting on the fallout, she discussed the lasting impact on her life and generation.
Monica Lewinsky, a former White House intern who found herself at the heart of one of the most notorious political scandals in American history, stated that ex-US President Bill Clinton should have resigned from the Oval Office following Congress’s decision to impeach him for lying about their affair. In an interview on the ‘Call Her Daddy’ podcast, Ms. Lewinsky elaborated on why the 42nd US President should have stepped down rather than throwing her “under the bus” when their affair became public in 1998.
Ms. Lewinsky suggested that the “right way” for Mr. Clinton to manage the consequences of their affair, while she was a 22-year-old intern, would have been to “resign” or to avoid putting a young person “under the bus.”
“I believe the appropriate way to address a situation like this would likely have been to suggest it was nobody’s business and to resign. Or to find a means of remaining in office that involved neither lying nor casting a young person, who was just beginning her journey, aside,” Ms. Lewinsky stated on the “Call Her Daddy” podcast, hosted by Alex Cooper.
“And while I’m expressing this, I understand that we are discussing the most powerful office in the world. I don’t want to be naive either,” Ms. Lewinsky, now 51, remarked.
Ms. Lewinsky’s comments were prompted by Ms. Cooper asking her to reflect on the 1990s scandal and how the press and the White House could have better handled the situation when it emerged. “It’s really complicated because so many individuals are affected by these issues and situations,” she said.
She admitted to having “made mistakes,” but emphasized that Bill Clinton’s actions were “more reprehensible” than her own. Ms. Lewinsky also indicated that her interactions with Mr. Clinton did not constitute “sexual assault” as they featured “a level of consensuality.” However, she insisted that it was Mr. Clinton’s “responsibility” to never have “placed her in that position” as the nation’s most powerful individual.
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At the time of the scandal, Bill Clinton was 49 years old. He initially denied having any sexual relationship with Ms. Lewinsky, but later admitted it occurred while remaining in office.
Ms. Lewinsky expressed that Mr. Clinton’s denial felt like “gaslighting … on a grand scale.”
“I think there was so much collateral damage for women of my generation to witness a young woman being vilified on a global stage – to be dissected for my sexuality, my mistakes, and for everything related to me,” she reflected.
“I was fortunate to retain a piece of my true self, but I lost my future,” Ms. Lewinsky said. “I’m incredibly thankful for how my life has transformed in the last decade. … But that certainly wasn’t a foregone conclusion,” she concluded.