Former President Bill Clinton is trying to clarify comments he made during a heated interview with NBC’s Craig Melvin about the Monica Lewinsky scandal on Monday morning.
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During the interview with Melvin, Clinton declined to say whether he owes Lewinsky an apology and noted that he led the White House “$16 million in debt” after the scandal. (RELATED: Bill Clinton Gets Heated Under Questioning About Monica Lewinsky)
Clinton claimed during an event at the Schomburg Center on Monday night that he only got “hot under the collar” because he didn’t like the way Melvin was asking him questions. He clarified that he did apologize to Lewinsky publicly but still did not say whether he thinks she deserves a personal apology.
“The truth is, the hubbub was I got hot under the collar because of the way the questions were asked, and I think what was lost are the two points that I made that are important to me,” Clinton explained. “The suggestion was that I never apologized for what caused all the trouble for me 20 years ago.”
“I did. I meant it then, and I meant it now. I apologized to my family, to Monica Lewinsky and her family, and to the American people before a panel of ministers in the White House,” he asserted. “I live with it all the time.”
Clinton also added that he supports the #MeToo movement and believes it is “long overdue.”