Bill Clinton is still copping pleas over his affair with Monica Lewinsky that led to his impeachment. In a new documentary, he said it was a way of “managing my anxieties.”
The comments were a part of the four-part documentary series, Hillary, which was released on Friday on Hulu. It focused on the life and times of the former Secretary of State, including her 2016 presidential loss to President Donald Trump.
According to The New York Times, the former president decided to once again revisit the affair that almost cost him his presidency and marriage to Hillary. The 73-year-old was asked by the director, Nanette Burstein, why he had an inappropriate relationship with the former White House intern.
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“Nobody sits down and thinks, ‘I think I’ll take a really irresponsible risk,’” Mr. Clinton said. “It’s bad for my family, bad for my country, bad for the people who work with me.”
42 explained that he was under a lot of stress at the time. An affair was one way to deal with being commander in chief.
“You feel like you’re staggering around — you’ve been in a 15-round prizefight that was extended to 30 rounds, and here’s something that’ll take your mind off it for a while,” he said.
“Everybody’s life has pressures and disappointments and terrors, fears of whatever, things I did to manage my anxieties for years.”
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As a result of the affair, the House impeached Clinton on charges that he lied to a grand jury about his affair with Lewinsky and obstructed justice. He had originally denied any sexual conduct with Lewinsky. He ultimately told the truth.
The Senate ultimately decided not to remove him from power. However, until Trump, he was only the second president to have the distinction on his record. He left office in 2001 and his marriage survived the latest scandal but in the Hulu documentary, his wife said it was a struggle.
Hillary spoke of being devasted. The hardest part was having to tell their daughter, Chelsea, what was going on.
“She said, ‘Well, you’ve got to go tell your daughter,’” he said. “She said, ‘That’s worse than me.’”
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Lewinsky, now a public speaker, may have subtweeted the revelations in the doc. She is now used to her name being brought up all these years later in connection to the scandal.
thx for telling me. it’s so meaningful to my family + me that my TedTalk is shown in schools. as my @LSE_PBS grad school prof said to me: when narratives are created by those in power, there must be a competing narrative.
(ps. yes, to name redaction… and then some! 😉) https://t.co/xj8SKUTGRc— Monica Lewinsky (she/her) (@MonicaLewinsky) March 6, 2020
Watch the trailer for Hillary below.
