Former president Bill Clinton responded in a CBS interview to Sen. Kirsten Gillibrand’s (D-NY) remarks that he should have resigned over the Lewinsky affair. In the interview, which will air Sunday, Clinton said Gillibrand was “living in a different context” and that he disagreed with her assessment that he should’ve stepped down.
“Well, I knew it wouldn’t succeed,” Clinton told CBS of the impeachment. “It wasn’t a pleasant experience. But it was a fight that I was glad to undertake after the elections, when the people had solidly told, by two-thirds or more, the Republicans to stop it. They knew there was nothing impeachable. And so, we fought it to the end. And I’m glad.”
He then explained why he disagreed with Gillibrand’s comment that he should have resigned.
“You have to-- really ignore what the context was,” Clinton said. “But, you know, she’s living in a different context. And she did it for different reasons. So, I – but I just disagree with her.”
In November, Gillibrand told The New York Times that Clinton should have stepped down in light of his affair with Monica Lewinsky.
She added, however, that “things have changed today, and I think under those circumstances there should be a very different reaction.”
Hillary Clinton pushed back on Gillibrand's comments when she was asked about them in November.
"I'm not exactly sure what she was trying to say," she said. "There has been some confusion about it. But, look, this was a painful time not only in our marriage but in our country as I've written about. But it was investigated fully. It was addressed at the time. He was held accountable."
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She added that looking at her husband's conduct at the time was a "distraction" from focusing on President Trump's conduct.
"That is very different than what people seem to be remembering from that period because you can go back and look at the history," she added. "But right now this is not a distraction we should fall for. The Republicans are led by a man who admitted to sexually assaulting women. He bragged about it. And if we're going to encourage women to have the courage to be heard we can't excuse the president from this debate."
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