There’s no question Bill Clinton wanted a re-do of his #MeToo comments as he rounds out the tour promoting his new book, The President is Missing. He got one on Colbert, but Colbert didn’t make it easy.
At the end of the day there’s no question this man clearly felt bad 20 years later about what happened while he was in office and that just lets you know how bad his abuse of power really was.
TONIGHT: Stephen offers @BillClinton the opportunity for a do-over regarding a question he was asked in an interview earlier this week. #LSSC #BillClinton pic.twitter.com/vgHSWOpY6N
— The Late Show (@colbertlateshow) June 5, 2018
For the record Monica says this was a consensual relationship, but this drove her to suicidal states of depression and I’m pretty sure Bill knows that after a series of Vanity Fair articles over the last 4 years. Can you imagine the convos with Bill and Hillary? Gotta be tough and they are still together.
Monica Lewinsky recently wrote a piece for Vanity Fair about how she felt in relation to the Me Too movement and its getting some wind in it’s sails. One of the most poignant quotes was how she is still “reprocessing what happened” to her 20 years later.
“There are many more women and men whose voices and stories need to be heard before mine. (There are even some people who feel my White House experiences don’t have a place in this movement, as what transpired between Bill Clinton and myself was not sexual assault, although we now recognize that it constituted a gross abuse of power.) And yet, everywhere I have gone for the past few months, I’ve been asked about it. My response has been the same: I am in awe of the sheer courage of the women who have stood up and begun to confront entrenched beliefs and institutions. But as for me, my history, and how I fit in personally? I’m sorry to say I don’t have a definitive answer yet on the meaning of all of the events that led to the 1998 investigation; I am unpacking and reprocessing what happened to me. Over and over and over again.”
Before Harvey the couch rapist got caught and the #MeToo movement took off, in 2014 she was quoted in Vanity Fair as well saying she became a scapegoat:
“Sure, my boss took advantage of me, but I will always remain firm on this point: it was a consensual relationship. Any ‘abuse’ came in the aftermath, when I was made a scapegoat in order to protect his powerful position. . . . The Clinton administration, the special prosecutor’s minions, the political operatives on both sides of the aisle, and the media were able to brand me. And that brand stuck, in part because it was imbued with power.”
This is just further evidence of how long the road to recover is for some women who to through this kind of public slut shaming and abuse. Good for Colbert for asking the tough questions.
