Hillary Clinton Shares What She'd Say To Monica Lewinsky Now
Lewinsky is the former intern who was part of an infamous sex scandal with Bill Clinton 18 years ago. She recently wrote about how difficult it's been to be a "punch line" for all these years in Vanity Fair.
Sawyer asked Clinton what she would say to Lewinsky now.
"Well, I would wish her well," Clinton replied. "I hope that she is able to, you know, think about her future and construct a life that she finds meaning and satisfaction in."
(Interestingly, Clinton responded to comments by infamous political architect Karl Rove by also saying: " ... I wish him well.")
The presumed 2016 presidential contender also talked about forgiveness.
"I am 100% in the camp that says forgiveness is mostly about the forgiver," Clinton said. "I know too many people, having now lived as long as I have, who can never get over it…Forgiveness is a way of opening up the doors again and moving forward, whether it's a personal life or a national life."
Here's the Q&A about Monica Lewinsky with Sawyer and Clinton, from ABC:
Diane Sawyer: "Monica Lewinsky is back in the news."
Hillary Clinton: "Well, she's perfectly free to do that. She is in my view, an American who gets to express herself however she chooses, but that's not something that I spend a lot of time thinking about."
DS: "Really?"
HC: "Really. Really. Yeah, I mean, I wrote about it in my book 'Living History,' I dealt with it at the time, I have moved on, and that's how I see, you know, my life and my future."
DS: "You're not looking at me thinking, 'She is, asking these questions again.'"
HC: "No, because I knew you would, I knew you'd have to. I mean, it's somebody in the news. You have every right to ask and I have every right to tell you how I feel."
DS: "Did you call her a narcissistic loony-toon?"
HC: "I am not going to comment on what I did or did not say-back in the late '90s."
DS: "She has said she has lived all of these years as a punch line. Is there anything you would say to her about her life."
HC: "Well, I would wish her well. I hope that she is able to, you know, think about her future and construct a life that she finds meaning and satisfaction in."