‘I did the right thing’: Bill Clinton defends actions following Monica Lewinsky affair

Former U.S. President Bill Clinton says he wouldn’t have handled the events following his affair with Monica Lewinsky differently today.

In an interview with NBC’s “Today Show” that aired Monday, Clinton was asked by host Craig Melvin whether he thinks about his affair differently now in light of the #MeToo movement.

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“No, I felt terrible then,” he said. “Nobody believes I got out of that free. I left the White House $16 million in debt.”

“This was litigated 20 years ago, two-thirds of the American people sided with me.”

Clinton added that he’s tried to “do a good job since then” with his personal and professional life.

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The former president has faced renewed criticism over his 1998 affair amid the recent movement, which led Melvin to ask whether Clinton thinks he should have stepped down rather than fight impeachment.

“I think I did the right thing, I defended the constitution.”

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During the interview, the former president insisted he’s already paid his dues and will not privately apologize to Lewinsky years later.

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“I have never talked to her,” he said. “But I did say publicly on more than one occasion that I was sorry. That’s very different. The apology was public.”

Clinton also attempted to steer the criticism he is now facing to U.S. President Donald Trump. He said that part of the reason he’s being targeted is because people are frustrated with the current situation at the White House — and the lack of press coverage surrounding the issue.

“I think partly because they’re frustrated that they got all these serious allegations against the current occupant of the Oval Office and his voters don’t seem to care,” Clinton said.

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Trump has faced several sexual misconduct accusations, but has denied all of them.

Earlier this year, Lewinsky also spoke out about the affair and how she now views it differently amid #MeToo.

In a Vanity Fair essay published in March, she wrote about how she is just now beginning to understand how power dynamics played into the relationship.

READ MORE: Monica Lewinsky calls affair with Bill Clinton a ‘gross abuse of power’

“He was my boss. He was the most powerful man on the planet. He was 27 years my senior, with enough life experience to know better,” Lewinsky wrote.

“He was, at the time, at the pinnacle of his career, while I was in my first job out of college.”