Actress Lena Dunham reportedly expressed concerns about the way Hillary Clinton treated the women who accused her husband of sexual assault in the 1990s before endorsing her for president in December.
In a Wednesday story titled, “’90s Scandals Threaten to Erode Hillary Clinton’s Strength With Women,” the New York Times recounted a dinner party at the house of HBO chief executive Richard Plepler where the “Girls” star allegedly said she was disturbed by the way Hillary Clinton discredited the women who accused Bill of sexual misdeeds.
Dunham declined a Times request for comment, though her spokeswoman, Cindi Berger, told the Times that Dunham is “fully supporting of Hillary Clinton and her track record for protecting women,” and that there has been a “total mischaracterization” of her comments at the Upper East Side dinner party.
Clinton and Dunham have been a political team for over a month now. Dunham has campaigned for the Democratic presidential front-runner in Iowa and New Hampshire, as well as taking over her Instagram account in an effort to attract younger, millennial voters.
Earlier in January, Dunham discussed the inherent sexism Clinton has faced on the campaign trail.
“The way she has been treated is just more evidence of the fact that our country has so much hatred toward successful women,” Dunham said at a Clinton campaign event in Manchester, N.H.
The issue of Bill Clinton’s past sexual conduct has come back to haunt Hillary in the last month or so, with attacks on both their characters coming from many in the Republican Party, mainly Donald Trump.
She also took some heat on the subject from Vermont Sen. Bernie Sanders, her closest rival in the Democratic primary race, who called Bill’s ’90s actions involving Monica Lewinsky “totally, totally, totally disgraceful and unacceptable” at a Jan. 8 campaign event in Iowa.
Sanders changed his tune at the latest Democratic debate, brushing off Bill’s transgressions by saying being questioned about it “annoys” him.
“I mean this seriously. … Yes, his behavior was deplorable,” he told NBC’s Andrea Mitchell after being asked about his Iowa comments. “Have I ever once said a word about that issue? No I have not. I’m going to debate Secretary Clinton and Governor O’Malley on the issues facing the American people, not Bill Clinton’s personal behavior.”
