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Tags: clinton | vanity | fair

Bill Clinton Calls Vanity Fair Writer 'Scumbag'

Monday, 02 June 2008 11:09 PM EDT

President Clinton is hopping mad about Vanity Fair's recent hit piece by writer Todd Purdum.

Reportedly, Clinton was asked by a reporter at a South Dakota event for his take on the story.

Clinton is quoted as calling Purdum “sleazy,” “dishonest,” “slimy,” and a “scumbag."

Clinton added that Purdum, the husband of his former White House press secretary Dee Dee Meyers, was a "real slimy guy."

“There’s just five or six blatant lies in there,” Clinton said, referring to the Vanity Fair piece.

Clinton's office issued an official statement Sunday attacking the magazine article: “A tawdry, anonymous quote-filled attack piece, published in this month’s Vanity Fair magazine regarding former President Bill Clinton repeats many past attacks on him, ignores much prior positive coverage, includes numerous errors, and ultimately breaks no new ground. It is, in short, journalism of personal destruction at its worst.

"Though [Purdum] researched the piece for several months, his first contact with President Clinton’s office was several weeks before he closed the story. Most revealing is one simple fact: President Clinton has helped save the lives of 1,300,000 people in his post-presidency, and Vanity Fair couldn’t find time to talk to even one of them for comment."

One Washington insider, a Democrat, told Newsmax that the Vanity Fair piece was not targeting the former president, but his wife Hillary. The reason? Graydon Carter, the editor of Vanity Fair, despises Hillary and has not forgiven her for initially supporting President Bush and the invasion of Iraq.

"He wants to drive a stake in their hearts," the source said.

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InsideCover
President Clinton is hopping mad about Vanity Fair's recent hit piece by writer Todd Purdum. Reportedly, Clinton was asked by a reporter at a South Dakota event for his take on the story. Clinton is quoted as calling Purdum “sleazy,” “dishonest,” “slimy,” and a “scumbag."...
clinton,vanity,fair
260
2008-09-02
Monday, 02 June 2008 11:09 PM
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