Former President Bill Clinton was called to answer questions on Jeffrey Epstein by the GOP-run US House Oversight Committee. As videos of the testimony were released online, viewers were quick to point out that Clinton appeared to be smiling during some parts.
Many took it to be a smile while he was reminiscing, and they rushed to slam the Democrat as ‘creepy’.
“Moment creepy Bill Clinton SMILES as he’s grilled over Epstein hot tub photo,” a person wrote on X. Another added “Bill Clinton during deposition looking at his good time in the hot tub and his lawyer takes it from him enjoying himself and he takes it back and continues to reminisce.”
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Another claimed “This is NOT normal. Bill Clinton smiling and trying to TAKE BACK a photo of underage girls in Epstein’s hot tub during his deposition.”
Publications like TMZ also reported on the moment, saying the former president was ‘going down the memory lane’.
Clinton was asked about the hot tub photo during the deposition. The picture showed Clinton lounging in a hot tub with a woman next to him, whose face had been redacted. Speaking about the photo, he said he did not know the woman and had not engaged in any sexual activity with her.
As per Clinton the photos were taken during a trip to Brunei where he’d gone at the initiation of the sultan. “He invited me to stay there and he said, ‘I want you to stay at this hotel and I hope you’ll use the pool’,” Clinton said, adding, “I swam around. I sat in the hot tub for five minutes or whatever it was, and I got up and went to bed.”
“I thought Mr. Epstein was an interesting man, but I didn’t think he was really interested in what I was doing,” Clinton continued. He also said he was unaware of Epstein’s criminal conduct till he was busted in 2008 and insisted he’d have turned in the late convicted child sex offender earlier if he had an inkling about his wrongdoings.
A photo of Clinton appearing to smile, was also shared on X next to a picture of him in the hot tub.
Bill Clinton: Shaking hands spark health concerns
Clinton’s hands were seen shaking during the deposition, raising questions among many. “Was Bill Clinton faking his hand trembling or does he actually know he is f*****?” one user wrote.
It sparked speculations about the 79-year-old’s health and many asked if he had Parkinson’s disease, a nervous condition which causes a tremor in the hands. However, Clinton is not dealing with Parkinson’s and his condition is something the former president has been living with for a while. A 2013 report in The Hill noted Clinton had tremors in his hands due to his age.
“The first time it happened, I had to go get myself checked to make sure I didn’t have Parkinson’s, and I was so relieved I didn’t care how much it shook after that. If I had Parkinson’s, I wanted to know so I could prepare. And I had it tested and the doctor said ‘no.’ He says it’s just a normal aging phenomenon,” he had said.