Newt Gingrich Admits Impeaching Bill Clinton Was a 'Mistake'

Impeachment of Bill Clinton over the Monica Lewinsky affair was described as a mistake. The main concern was framed as Clinton committing perjury in a sexual harassment case while governor, which was characterized as a felony. The Paula Jones allegations involved claims that Clinton propositioned her, exposed himself, and asked her to perform oral sex, followed by a lawsuit and a later out-of-court settlement. Clinton denied the allegations. Gingrich said he recognized the impeachment was a bad move during 1998 after hearing concerns from his daughters about the impact on their friends’ finances. He said the impeachment backfired, contributing to Clinton leaving office at a high point of popularity.

"“I think it was a mistake, because the real problem wasn't Lewinsky. The real problem was he committed perjury in a case involving sexual harassment when he was governor. And perjury's a felony.” He connected the Lewinsky scandal to the Paula Jones matter, where Clinton was accused of propositioning her in a hotel room, exposing himself, and asking her to perform oral sex, leading to a sexual harassment lawsuit and a later settlement in 1998."

"“I knew it was a bad move during the summer of '98, when I was eating with my two daughters at a cafe. And they told me, If our friends lose money on their 401K because of some stupid intern, we are going to be mad at you, because frankly it ain't a big enough deal for us to lose a lot of money.” He said the moment showed he had misunderstood how culture was evolving."

"“I realized at that point I had completely misunderstood how the culture was evolving,” Gingrich added. Devine responded by saying it also meant Democrats had a talking point that the president was impeached over a triviality, therefore anything goes in the future. Gingrich said he did not agree with that framing and noted Democrats did not try to impeach George W. Bush while he was in office."

"He said the impeachment backfired and led to Clinton leaving office at the high point of his popularity. A poll in late 2000 found Clinton had a 67% approval rating, which was close to the 70% he had right before he was impeached. The approval figures were used to support the claim that the impeachment did not damage Clinton as intended."

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