Bill Clinton Should Have Quit: Monica Lewinsky Reflects on Affair in New Podcast

In a recent interview on the "Call Her Daddy" podcast with host Alex Cooper, Monica Lewinsky once again reflected on the scandal that thrust her into the public eye over 25 years ago, stating that former U.S. President Bill Clinton should have resigned at the time.

Speaking to Cooper, Lewinsky addressed how she believes the media and the White House should have handled the revelation of her affair with Clinton when she was a White House intern.

“I think that the right way to handle a situation like that would have been to probably say it was nobody’s business and to resign,” Lewinsky told Cooper. “Or to find a way of staying in office that was not lying and not throwing a young person who is just starting out in the world under the bus.”

Lewinsky also spoke about the lasting impact of the scandal, stating that many women of her generation were affected by witnessing her public humiliation. “I think there was so much collateral damage for women of my generation to watch a young woman be pilloried on a world stage – to be torn apart for my sexuality, for my mistakes, for my everything,” she said.

The interview coincides with the launch of Lewinsky’s own podcast, "Reclaiming," which debuted earlier this month. So far, guests have included Olivia Munn and Alan Cumming. Over the years, Lewinsky has been outspoken about the power imbalance in her relationship with Clinton and has criticized the misogyny in media coverage that vilified her as a young woman.

In a 2021 interview with CNN’s Jake Tapper, Lewinsky described Clinton’s role in their relationship as “wholly inappropriate.” She also told Variety that she hoped, in the post-#MeToo era, similar situations would be met with a different societal response, with the blame not falling solely on the young woman involved.

For his part, Clinton has previously stated that he felt “terrible” about how Lewinsky’s life was defined by the scandal but disagreed with the notion that he should have resigned.

The Clinton-Lewinsky Scandal

The Clinton–Lewinsky scandal was one of the most high-profile political controversies in American history, shaking the foundations of the U.S. presidency and dominating headlines in the late 1990s. It began with an illicit relationship between President Bill Clinton and Monica Lewinsky, a young White House intern, which took place between 1995 and 1997.

The affair came to light as part of a broader investigation led by Independent Counsel Kenneth Starr, initially focused on the Whitewater real estate dealings. Lewinsky confided in a colleague, Linda Tripp, who secretly recorded their conversations and later turned over the tapes to Starr’s team. The scandal escalated dramatically when Clinton, in a televised address on January 26, 1998, emphatically denied the allegations with his now-infamous words: "I did not have sexual relations with that woman, Ms. Lewinsky."

However, as forensic evidence and testimonies emerged—including the infamous blue dress containing DNA evidence—Clinton was forced to admit to the affair in August 1998.

The fallout from the scandal was immense, leading to only the second impeachment of a U.S. president in history.

Clinton was charged with perjury and obstruction of justice by the House of Representatives in December 1998, as his initial denial under oath was seen as an attempt to mislead investigators. The trial moved to the Senate in early 1999, where he was ultimately acquitted on both charges, allowing him to serve out the remainder of his second term.

The scandal had far-reaching consequences, affecting Clinton’s legacy, the political landscape, and public discourse on personal morality versus professional competency.