On Friday, Vice President Kamala Harris and former President Bill Clinton held a webcast debate on “empowering women and girls,” despite criticism of Clinton’s record of alleged sexual misconduct and predatory behavior.
Harris said it was a “real honor” to join the 74-year-old Clinton at the virtual event organized by the Clinton Global Initiative.
At one point in the talk, Clinton cryptically endorsed Harris’s advice that people should try to “be present” as they live their lives, adding that he believes doing so allows him to “forgive himself” for wrongdoing.
Clinton said: “This is really good advice. Also, if you are truly present, it gives you the gift of memory as you go through life. If you pay attention at each stage of your life, you can take advantage of it, you can grow. And you can forgive yourself for your mistakes and keep looking for new answers. “
The 22-minute conversation focused in part on the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on women, but also featured a small talk on Harris’s mother, warm spring weather, and the role of vice presidents.
Harris gushed to Clinton: “I know you, during the course of your presidency, but your life’s work, you’ve always focused on the issue of poverty and what we must do to lift people out of poverty.” .
The vice president noted that the recently passed American Rescue Plan Act increased an annual tax credit for children from $ 2,000 to $ 3,000, or $ 3,600 for children under the age of six, which advocates say could dramatically reduce the poverty.
Billing the event as a forum on “empowering women and girls” drew strong criticism from Clinton’s alleged victims and her former friend Jeffrey Epstein.
“Is this a shit joke? This pervert …… who raped me … is going to talk about empowering women. ” tweeted Juanita Broaddrick, who accuses Clinton of raping her in 1978.
“Wow !! Are you asking Clinton how to empower women?” Tweeted Virginia Giuffre, an alleged Epstein trafficking victim who says Prince Andrew had sex with her when he was 17 years old.
“Wrong person, what I should ask you is what the heck was Clinton doing on #Epstein Island and private jets 27 TIMES!”
In addition to Broaddrick’s indictment, Paula Jones accused Clinton of sexual harassment in 1991, and two other women, Kathleen Willey and Leslie Millwee, charged him with battery.
Clinton was indicted in 1998 for perjury and obstruction of justice in connection with his affair with Monica Lewinsky, who was 21 when she interned at the White House.
During their conversation, Clinton and Harris also discussed their role as a tiebreaker in the evenly divided Senate.
“You know, when Al Gore was vice president, he did a fabulous job. But he had a wonderful saying. He said, ‘Whenever I vote, we win,’ “Clinton told Harris.
Harris responded, “I have adopted that saying. I’ll tell you, the first time I said it, I said, ‘like Al Gore said.’ Then the next time I said it, I said, ‘like someone famous said,’ and now I’m just saying, ‘Like I always say, when I vote, I win.