GOP presidential candidate uses a Monica Lewinsky reference to bash Hillary Clinton
At the Voters First Forum in New Hampshire, the GOP presidential candidate Graham said that Bill Clinton's dishonesty about his sexual relationship with then-White House intern Monica Lewinsky showed that the Clintons could not be trusted.
"I'm fluent in Clinton-speak," Graham said. "When Bill said that he didn't have sex with that woman, he did."
He also used the comment to bash Hillary Clinton over revelations that she used a private email server during her time as secretary of state and her refusal to take a clear position on the Keystone XL Pipeline.
Graham's team was quick to highlight his comments on Twitter.
Graham is currently one of the lowest-polling GOP candidates, hovering somewhere around or below 1%. His low numbers mean that he's unlikely to qualify for the first Republican primary debate, which is being held this Thursday in Ohio.
Graham has a long history with the Clintons on the Lewinsky scandal.
One of Graham's first notable moments as a member of Congress occurred during the Clinton impeachment proceedings in 1998. He famously asked during a 1998 House Judiciary hearing if the scandal was "Watergate or Peyton Place."
Even after the impeachment effort failed in the Senate, Graham continued to muse about the scandal and what kind of example it set for American public officials.
''It's a time for the country as a whole to understand what went on here and where we're going to go,'' Graham said in 1999, according to the New York Times. ''What are the consequences of this case? What do you do with the next Federal judge who has got wandering hands in the office and someone's got the courage to say, 'No, you shouldn't treat me that way,' and he starts hiding evidence and getting others to lie for him - what do we do with that case?''
Graham's comments reflected what is perhaps the most notable liability for Clinton: the perception that she cannot be trusted.
According to a recent Quinnipiac University poll, 57% of voters do not view the former Secretary of State as "honest and trustworthy," compared to 37% who believe that she is honest and trustworthy.