On Tuesday's Cuomo Prime Time, liberal CNN political commentator Van Jones -- also host of his own CNN show on weekends -- tried to put a positive spin on perennial sex harasser and former President Bill Clinton suggesting that it used to be acceptable to subject women to sexual behavior "against their will" after CNN host Chris Cuomo brought up Clinton's recent interview on PBS.
At 9:36 p.m. Eastern, Cuomo recalled that the former President "keeps digging himself into a deeper hole," and wondered, "Does the left need to move on from Bill Clinton and Hillary Clinton?" because of the former President's recent string of comments about sexual harassment and assault. Jones praised the former Democratic President as he began:
I think that he was trying to -- I think the hard thing for Bill Clinton is that he has always been the gold standard in communication -- in being able to connect with people - to thread these needles -- to bring people together. And there's something missing now in that ability of his. And so, if you listen to the whole thing in context, you can tell his heart's in the right place.
The liberal CNN commentator then lamented:
He's really trying to make the case, but the word choice is just not proper. And so I hate to see the guy get beat up, but he just could be at that stage of his aging process where maybe he just can't be as precise as we need him to be, and I think his heart was in the right place on that one.
Referring to Clinton's previous comments that he does not owe a private apology to Monica Lewinsky beyond what he has stated publicly, Jones added: "The first two, I thought, was a swing in the wrong direction. Now, he's trying to swing in the right direction, but he still can't land it.
