Rep. Eric Swalwell (D., Calif.) said on CNN that he is not qualified to comment on the matter of former President Bill Clinton’s impeachment because he was 15 years old when it happened.
In an interview that aired Monday, Clinton hit back at Sen. Kirsten Gillibrand (D., N.Y.) for saying he should have resigned after he tried to cover up a sexual relationship with White House intern Monica Lewinsky. CNN host Erin Burnett asked Swalwell whether he agreed with Clinton or Gillibrand, and Swalwell said he was unable to say because of his age.
"I was 15 years old when that happened," Swalwell said, before explaining the importance of sincere apologies.
Burnett pressed him on the question again, and Swalwell repeated that he was 15 years old, arguing that the #MeToo movement should not look "backwards."
"Again, I was 15. I don't think going backwards helps this movement, especially going back to the nineties," Swalwell said. "I think women deserve to be protected, women should be protected in the workplaces today, and that’s the most important part of this movement."
Clinton perjured himself by lying about his relationship with Lewinsky, 27 years his junior, and he was impeached by the House but not convicted in the Senate. In November, Gillibrand stated her opinion that, in light of the #MeToo movement, Clinton should have resigned at the time.
Clinton disagrees, and he defended himself in a recent interview.
"You have to really ignore what the context was then," Clinton said about the idea of him resigning. "[Gillibrand's] living in a different context. And she did it for different reasons. So, I – but I just disagree with her."
In addition, Clinton cast himself as the victim in the affair, making the dubious claim that he was was broke when he left office. According to friends of his, he said after leaving the White house that he "never had more money."
Clinton has also faced allegations of sexual harassment and assault by various other women. Paula Jones, a former employee of the state of Arkansas, sued him for sexual harassment, and Juanita Broaddrick accused him of raping her in 1978.