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The Independent UK
The Independent UK
National
Harriet Sinclair

Monica Lewinksy makes emoji joke about Clinton affair

Photograph: 'I hope... I can help ensure that what happened to me never happens to another young person in our country again,' says Ms Lewinsky

Anti-bullying activist and former White House intern Monica Lewinsky has thrown some literal side-eye at former President Bill Clinton with a single emoji that has delighted her Twitter followers.

Responding to the question “What’s the most high-risk, low-reward thing you’ve ever done?”, Ms Lewinsky simply replied with the eyes emoji.

Her followers immediately picked up on what was widely viewed as a nod to the affair she had with then-President Bill Clinton.

“Monica Lewinsky wins the internet today,” one follower wrote, while another added: “I admire/love/respect ML for tons of reasons but leaning in to her past with a nod and a wink is the icing on the cake.”

Ms Lewinsky was just 21 at the time of the affair, and has since spoken only about her regret over the situation. In 2018, she described what had taken place between the pair as an “abuse of power”.

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“There are even some people who feel my White House experiences don’t have a place in this movement, as what transpired betweenBill Clinton and myself was not sexual assault, although we now recognise that it constituted a gross abuse of power,” she wrote in an article for Vanity Fair in 2018.

Mr Clinton’s denial of the extra-marital liaison (I did not have sexual relations with that woman) became famous after it emerged that he did indeed have sexual relations with Ms Lewinsky, and had lied about it.

He was later charged with two articles of impeachment; obstruction of justice and perjury for lying under oath to federal judges. However he was later acquitted by the Senate.

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