June 9, 2014 -- In an exclusive interview ahead of Tuesday’s release of her memoir “Hard Choices,” Hillary Clinton talked to ABC’s Diane Sawyer about Monica Lewinsky.
Below is a partial transcript as airing:
Diane Sawyer: “Monica Lewinsky is back in the news.”
Hillary Rodham Clinton: “Well, she's perfectly free to do that. She is in my view, an American who gets to express herself however she chooses, but that's not something that I spend a lot of time thinking about.”
DS: “Really?”
HRC: “Really. Really. Yeah, I mean, I wrote about it in my book ‘Living History,’ I dealt with it at the time, I have moved on, and that's how I see, you know, my life and my future.”
DS: “You're not looking at me thinking, "’ she is, asking these questions again.’”
HRC: “No, because I knew you would, I knew you'd have to. I mean, it's somebody in the news. You have every right to ask and I have every right to tell you how I feel.”
DS: “Did you call her a narcissistic loony-toon?”
HRC: “I am not going to comment on what I did or did not say-back in the late '90s.”
DS: “She has said she has lived all of these years as a punch line. Is there anything you would say to her about her life.”
HRC: “Well, I would wish her well. I hope that she is able to, you know, think about her future and construct a life that she finds meaning and satisfaction in.”
DS: “How are you different than you were then?”
HRC: “Well, I think the eight years of the presidency taught me a lot…And then my eight years in the Senate…I have tried to become a deeper, more understanding, more open, more grateful person as I've gone through these last 20 years because I don't think you need more political combat in our country.”
DS: “Would you say that's right-wing conspiracy again?”
HRC: “I probably would not because I think that it became you know, an excuse for not looking at what was clearly a concerted political effort against the Clinton administration, just as we had seen against the Obama administration.”
…
DS: “Somebody said, ‘Forgiveness is releasing a prisoner and discovering the prisoner was yourself.’”
HRC: “I am 100% in the camp that says forgiveness is mostly about the forgiver. I know too many people, having now lived as long as I have, who can never get over it…Forgiveness is a way of opening up the doors again and moving forward, whether it's a personal life or a national life.”
…
DS: “Is this the happiest time in your marriage?”
HRC: “We’ve had a lot of happy times. We started off, you know, a conversation all those years ago at Yale Law School and—
DS: “Forty”
HRC: “Yeah more, oh my gosh, so many years ago. It’s never stopped, and we make each other laugh. We support each other, it’s really another one of my blessings.”
…
DS: “Republican Rand Paul, said, “It’s fair game. It’s fair game to talk about Monica Lewinsky. But, it’s fair game to talk about how bosses treat people.”
HRC: “You know, he can talk about what he wants to talk about. And if he decides to run, he’ll be fair game too for everybody.”
