Sen. Kirsten Gillibrand, D-N.Y., and former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton are on speaking terms.
Gillibrand, who was reportedly on shaky ground with her mentor after she said former President Bill Clinton should have resigned in the 1990s over his extramarital affair with Monica Lewinsky, said she didn’t believe her comments fractured her relationship with the 2016 Democratic presidential nominee.
“I don’t think so, and let’s talk about Hillary Clinton,” Gillibrand, a 2020 Democratic presidential candidate, said Tuesday during a CNN town hall, before praising the woman whom she replaced in the Senate.
Clinton had also given her advice on her bid for the White House, Gillibrand added.
“You would have to ask her that, but my fondness for her and my respect for her are very strong,” she said when pressed on whether all was forgiven. “She’s somebody who I still admire and look up to, and she’s given a lot to this country. So I think our relationship is strong.”
Gillibrand, a vocal advocate for women in the #MeToo era, has faced scrutiny for her remarks in November 2017 regarding Bill Clinton and former Sen. Al Franken of Minnesota. Gillibrand was one of the first sitting senators in December 2017 to say Franken should step down after eight women, including one congressional staffer, accused him of inappropriate behavior, such as groping and forcible kissing.
