Former Clinton White House chief of staff John Podesta dodged questions on Sunday about Democrats reportedly distancing themselves from Bill Clinton amid the #MeToo movement against sexual harassment.
CBS host Nancy Cordes interviewed Podesta on "Face The Nation" and after being asked about Bill Clinton's role in the 2018 midterms, Podesta did not answer whether it was true that some Democrats didn't want him to be part of their campaigns, given the accusations of sexual misconduct by several women he's faced in the past.
"Midterm elections are coming up, and it's been reported that Democrats are telling your former boss, Bill Clinton, that in light of the #MeToo movement they think he should sit it out, he should be benched, and they're not looking for him to actively campaign for them," Cordes said. "Is that true and do you think that that's the right call?"
"Look, I think he remains, I think, a figure who is popular with a lot of Democrats across the country and I think that people are calling him, candidates are calling him, and asking for advice, but whether he's going to be an active participant, I think that's not really on top of his mind right now," Podesta said. "I think he's doing other things, and people make their own judgments about whether he can be helpful in the campaign."
"Do you think it's a good idea, very quickly, for him to sit it out?" Cordes said.
"I think that if I was advising a campaign and a candidate about what to do, I would sort of judge whether he could be helpful," Podesta said. "I think some places he can be, probably some places he's more of a lightning rod."
Podesta served as Clinton's Chief of Staff when he was impeached by the House of Representatives in 1998 for perjury and obstruction, stemming from a sexual harassment lawsuit filed against him by Paula Jones.