Bill Clinton, of all people, made the questionable decision to release and promote a novel in the year of #MeToo, setting himself up for an interesting publicity tour. But, of course, he seems to be pretty confident everything is fine.
The former president grinned his way through a “Today” show interview with Craig Melvin, who engaged Clinton in a lengthy back-and-forth on his affair with Monica Lewinsky, though did not seem to ask about the allegations of nonconsensual misconduct against him. With an uncomfortably out-of-place air of self-satisfaction, Clinton repeatedly and defensively accused his detractors of omitting or fabricating the “facts” of his case, which seems a little less credible coming from a man who notoriously lied to the country about the most important fact of the case.
“I dealt with it 20 years ago,” Clinton told Melvin. “And the American people, two-thirds of them, stayed with me.” He’s right— but the point of #MeToo is to prevent men from getting a pass for bad behavior, so Clinton’s decision to eagerly tout that particular fact is almost amusing for how out of touch it was.
[Related: Bill Clinton: I don’t owe Monica Lewinksy a private apology]
And that was the story of the whole interview. Where Clinton’s smirks may have once contributed to his charms, they fell painfully flat, smacking of an arrogance nobody outside his orbit of yes men would agree he’s earned. #MeToo is a conversation the country is taking seriously, so that Clinton dismissed Melvin’s line of inquiry about his own behavior as a silly media narrative, all with a smile fixed on his face, was telling.
Clinton seems to have missed the mood of the public, and expects to laugh and deflect his way through tough questions like it’s nothing, because for two decades his party dismissed those questions too. But he may be in for a rude awakening if anyone in his circle is bold enough to pass along the message.
