De Blasio: If Lewinsky scandal happened today, Bill Clinton would ‘have to resign’
New York City Mayor Bill de Blasio (D) said if the Monica Lewinsky scandal happened today, former President Bill Clinton would have to resign.
“If it happened today there would have been a very different reaction. No question,” de Blasio said during a press conference Monday, according to The New York Post.
“I don’t think you can rework history. I think if it happened today — if any president did that today — they would have to resign.”
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Bill Clinton engaged in a sexual relationship with Lewinsky, a White House intern who was 22 at the time, between 1995 and 1996. It was revealed in 1998.
Clinton first denied the relationship but later admitted it occurred, which led to the Republican-controlled House voting to impeach him in 1998 on charges of perjury and obstruction of justice. He was later acquitted of the charges in the Senate and remained in office.
Last week, Sen. Kirsten Gillibrand (D-N.Y.) said Clinton should have resigned after the Lewinsky scandal.
“I think that is the appropriate response,” she told The New York Times.
The Democratic senator also said that “things have changed today” regarding inappropriate sexual conduct.
The comments come as a growing number of people have come forward in recent weeks to accuse prominent individuals of sexual misconduct.
Sen. Al Franken (D-Minn.) was accused of sexual misconduct by two women, and Alabama Republican Senate candidate Roy Moore faces growing calls to step aside in his Senate race amid allegations levied against him.
Several media figures in recent days have also faced allegations of sexual misconduct, including the New York Times’s Glenn Thrush and CBS’s Charlie Rose.
On Capitol Hill, lawmakers have introduced legislation to combat sexual harassment.
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