March 29, 2024
BANGOR DAILY NEWS (BANGOR, MAINE

Collins, Snowe want an explanation

Feminists are too willing to overlook the sexual harassment allegations against President Clinton, who owes the American people a full explanation, Maine’s two U.S. senators told a national news program Sunday.

GOP Sen. Susan Collins said Democratic women would not be so reluctant to speak out against alleged harassment if the president were a Republican.

“I think it’s important that we speak out because of the message that’s being sent across the nation” to women who are being harassed, Collins said. “It sends a terrible message to those women.”

Collins and Republican Sen. Olympia Snowe appeared on CBS-TV’s “Face the Nation” a week after Kathleen Willey alleged Clinton made a crude sexual advance during a 1993 meeting between the two.

“You know what the issue is here, though? Why isn’t the president speaking out? We need to have the president confront these issues and provide a straightforward explanation to the American people,” said Snowe.

The two senators reacted unfavorably to an article in Sunday’s New York Times by Gloria Steinem, a founder of the women’s movement. Steinem said that even if allegations against Clinton were true, he can be excused because when both Willey and Paula Jones told him to stop, he did.

Collins said she was “incredulous” when she read the story, saying Clinton had made “a crude sexual advance to Willey” that cannot be acceptable.

Snowe said Steinem should have been asking the president to come forward with an explanation to the nation of what happened.

“This is a question of trust and credibility between the president and the American people, who are giving him the benefit of the doubt right now … The feminist movement is not helping women in America by writing these kinds of stories,” said Snowe.

Collins accused the White House of “bringing the full weight of its propaganda machine down on this unfortunate woman. The message here is that if you come forward, you’re going to be smeared by the White House.”

Collins does not believe Clinton is entitled to invoke executive privilege in preventing some of his aides from discussing the allegations before a grand jury because it does not involve public policy issues.


Have feedback? Want to know more? Send us ideas for follow-up stories.

comments for this post are closed

You may also like