On the May 8 edition of Fox News' Your World, right-wing pundit Ann Coulter declared that former President Bill Clinton “molest[ed] the help.” Coulter made the remark while arguing that Democrats are “trying to persuade us that” Clinton became “massively popular” after the Monica Lewinsky controversy, “even though a majority wouldn't vote for him.” Coulter was presumably referring to the 1996 presidential election, in which Clinton received 49 percent of the vote. Host Neil Cavuto concluded by contradicting her, saying, “He was not molesting the help.”
Although Clinton did not receive a majority vote, a bipartisan poll conducted by NBC News and The Wall Street Journal, showed that Clinton's approval rating was consistently above 60 percent between February 1998, shortly after the Monica Lewinsky story broke, and February 1999. Clinton's approval rating reached a high of 72 percent in December 1998 shortly after the House of Representatives voted to impeach him.
As Media Matters for America noted, Coulter has previously referred to Clinton as a “very good rapist.”
From the May 8 edition of Fox News' Your World with Neil Cavuto:
CAVUTO: I always love it when my next guest is on. Former vice president Al Gore riding high, thanks to a new film about global warming. Advisors insist that Mr. Gore is not running for president, but at least one report [subscription required] says he's testing the waters. So, will it be Clinton versus Gore in '08? Here, now, is a somewhat conservative author, Ann Coulter. Her new book, Godless (Crown, June 2006), is due out on 6-6-06. This woman knows how to market. Anyway, Ann, good to see you
COULTER: Great to be here.
CAVUTO: What do you make of the Gore news?
COULTER: Well, one thing that was mentioned in that article -- the Clinton-Gore discomfort with one another based on Gore feeling like he lost the election because of Clinton, being tied to Clinton, and of course, the myth among the Clinton people and Democrats generally that, “Oh no, he didn't associate himself closely with Clinton enough.” I mean, that really is craziness. Gore was the one running. He had lots of pollsters and they were all telling him, “This guy is -- is a weight around your neck,” which is why he did everything he could to separate himself, choosing the most --
CAVUTO: But that's really hard for a veep to do.
COULTER: Right. He didn't do it enough. But what's peculiar is how you still see Democrats saying, “Oh, Gore and -- Clinton, he's so -- he's massively popular. He's like Elvis when he walks into the room.” But he could never get 50 percent of the country to vote for him. And they're trying to persuade us that once the country found out he was molesting the help, oh well, then they all liked him, even though a majority wouldn't vote for him.
CAVUTO: He was not molesting the help. All right.
