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Warren Dodges on Whether Clinton Should Have Resigned Over Affair: 'I Don't Have the Time Machine'

March 13, 2019

Sen. Elizabeth Warren (D., Mass.) dodged a question Wednesday about whether President Bill Clinton should have resigned over his affair with Monica Lewinsky, saying she didn't have a "time machine" and didn't want to relitigate the 1990s.

During a rapid-fire question session on MSNBC's Morning Joe, Warren reiterated to co-host Mika Brzezinski that Vice President Mike Pence was not an "honorable person" for his social views, calling it "homophobia." Brzezinski's next question was tougher.

"Should Bill Clinton have left office after having an affair with a much younger staffer in the White House?" she asked.

"Oh, I don't know," Warren said. "I can't go back and litigate the 1990s."

"Did the 1990s get us here though, to an extent?" Brzezinski asked.

"Of course it did," Warren replied. "But I don't have the time machine to go back and change the '90s. All I can do is change this world going forward."

Fellow presidential candidate Sen. Kirsten Gillibrand (D., N.Y.) said in 2017 that, in retrospect, Clinton should have resigned over his affair with Lewinsky, who was nearly 30 years his junior. Lewinsky has since stated the affair was a "gross abuse of power" by the 42nd president.

While Gillibrand's campaign—still in its exploratory phase—has been focused on women's issues, Warren is less known for speaking out on social issues. Her candidacy has been centered around economics and fighting what she deems political and economic systems that are "rigged" against the middle class.