Yahoo Lifestyle Bill Clinton Opens Up About 'Frustration' Over Monica Lewinsky Scandal Question In New Memoir
Former President Bill Clinton has opened up about the “frustration” he felt in response to a past question about his affair with White House intern Monica Lewinsky and pressure to apologize directly to her.
According to The Guardian’s review of his upcoming memoir, “Citizen: My Life After the White House,” Clinton looks back on a testy 2018 interview with NBC that he says had him “caught off guard” and not in his “finest hour” when the topic was brought up.
Clinton bristled and became defensive when confronted by NBC’s Craig Melvin about having never apologized to Lewinsky privately since the 1990s affair, which took place when he was in his late 40s and Lewinsky in her early 20s.
“I fought to contain my frustration as I replied that while I’d never talked to her directly, I did say publicly on more than [one] occasion I was sorry,” Clinton writes of his exchange with Melvin.
He also appears to take a shot at the news anchor, writing that Melvin was “barely in his teens when all this happened, and probably hadn’t been properly briefed,” according to The Guardian.
Clinton goes on to say that he lives with regret for what happened “all the time” and that he wishes all the best for Lewinsky, who has gone on to become an anti-bullying activist after her initial years of being publicly ridiculed and dismissed.
“Monica’s done a lot of good and important work over the last few years in her campaign against bullying, earning her well-deserved recognition in the United States and abroad,” he writes.
Lewinsky, speaking to NBC in 2021, said she’s beyond needing an apology from the former president.
“He should want to apologize in the same way I want to apologize any chance I get to people my actions have hurt,” she said.
Clinton’s book is due out Tuesday.
