Former US President Bill Clinton admitted to struggling with emotional turmoil and sleeplessness after his wife Hillary Clinton lost to Donald Trump in the 2016 presidential election, as reported by the New York Post.
In his new memoir, Citizen: My Life After The White House, he described his anger and apologised for his behavior, “I couldn’t sleep for two years after the election. I was so angry, I wasn’t fit to be around. I apologise to all those who endured my outbursts of rage,” he said. “The whole thing is hard for me to write,” he added.
Clinton blamed the election result on Russian interference, former FBI director James Comey’s investigation into Hillary’s emails, and media coverage, calling it the “darkest election possible in the United States.” He quoted social scientist Kathleen Hall Jamieson, who suggested that Russian cyberattacks and Comey’s actions influenced voters. Clinton added, “If so, Putin’s enablers were Comey and the political press.”
Clinton also addressed his ties to Jeffrey Epstein, a convicted pedophile. He confirmed flying on Epstein’s plane but denied ever visiting Epstein’s private island. He regretted the connection, saying, “Traveling on Epstein’s plane was not worth the years of questioning afterward. I wish I had never met him.” He explained that although he found Epstein “odd,” he had no idea about Epstein’s crimes, saying, “He hurt a lot of people, but I knew nothing about it.”
Clinton also revisited his 2018 NBC interview about the Monica Lewinsky scandal, a sex scandal involving him and White House intern Monica Lewinsky. He expressed regret over how he handled the apology question, recalling being asked if he had ever apologised to Lewinsky. He responded, “No, I felt terrible then,” admitting it was “not my finest hour.”
The charges for which Clinton was impeached stemmed from the same sexual harassment lawsuit. During pre-trial testimony, Clinton denied having a sexual relationship with Monica Lewinsky.