“The View” co-host Meghan McCain grilled Sen. Kirsten Gillibrand on Monday for taking so long to apply the same standard to Republicans and Democrats when it comes to allegations of sexual misconduct.
Ms. Gillibrand, a longtime Clinton ally who worked on Hillary Clinton’s campaign for Senate in 2000, called on President Trump to step down in response to “over a dozen allegations of sexual assault and sexual harassment” that have surfaced against him.
“He should resign because of that, he should be held accountable,” Ms. Gillibrand said. “I’ve not heard that from any Republicans.”
She said creating a safe workplace for women shouldn’t be a “partisan issue.”
In November, Ms. Gillibrand said President Bill Clinton should have resigned in response to the accusations of sexual misconduct during his presidency.
Ms. McCain wondered what took her so long.
“Senator, you have dedicated your political career to this fight, obviously,” Ms. McCain said. “That’s why a lot of people were really surprised that it took you 20 years to say that Bill Clinton should have resigned over the Lewinsky scandal.”
Ms. Gillibrand said the “Me too” movement makes this “moment of time” a “very different” one.
“I don’t think we had the same conversation back then, the same lens,” she said. “We didn’t hold people accountable in the same way that this moment is demanding today.”
Ms. McCain went on to question Ms. Gillibrand if she had any regrets about campaigning with Mr. Clinton when she ran for House in 2006.
“Can I ask you, do you regret campaigning with him, though?” Ms. McCain asked.
“It’s not about any one president, and it’s not about any one presidency,” Ms. Gillibrand responded. “And if we reduce it to that, we are missing the opportunity to allow women to be heard, to allow women to have accountability and transparency, and to allow women to have justice.”
• Bradford Richardson can be reached at brichardson@washingtontimes.com.
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