Former President Bill Clinton’s sex scandal with Monica Lewinsky was back in the news on Monday after he lashed out during an interview with NBC News’ Craig Melvin to promote the thriller novel he co-authored with James Patterson. And surprisingly, some members of the liberal media were critical of his attitude towards both Lewinsky and Melvin, as was the case during CNN Tonight where host Don Lemon and his panel took the Democrat to task.

With Lemon’s critical tone at the very start of the CNN segment, it was like a trip to the Twilight Zone. “Former President Bill Clinton speaking out about some pretty ill-considered comments earlier about the Monica Lewinsky scandal and whether he owes her an apology,” he said just before playing a clip of an indignant Clinton defending himself.

That indignation was something former federal prosecutor and CNN analyst Laura Coates zeroed-in on immediately. “[W]hat he fails to recognize, inherently, is that while he said that 20 years ago got ‘him’ in a great deal of trouble, the truth of the matter is he has thrived over last 20 years and Monica Lewinsky, by her own account, has had the life of a hermit. One who is shamed and forced to wear a red scarlet letter,” she said in a serious tone.

Coates then declared “[t]here is a reckoning to come” for Bill Clinton. “And 20 years later we still find ourselves wondering why he won't address the fact that there was some about the victimization of her based on his position,” she added.

Up next was Brain Karem, executive editor for Sentinel Newspapers, who first said he thought Clinton “still sounded a little tone deaf this evening,” before, of course, comparing him to President Trump.

“I mean, certainly his behavior and Trump's, you kind of hear a little of each other in there,” he suggested. “I mean, it's gotten progressively worse over the years. But, you have to wonder why they're tone deaf to this. And they're tone deaf to any criticism.”

And in another bizarre moment when he was prefacing a question to CNN reporter and editor Chris Cillizza, Lemon himself appeared called out “progressives” who wanted a double standard between Clinton and Trump:

This is what some progressives are saying, they're not saying it publicly: “Why are you not -- you know, why are you beating up Bill Clinton, this was 20 years ago, and we have someone in the White House now accused of similar things, and he’s not paying the price for it. Bill Clinton has paid the price.”

Cillizza seemed to get angry that there were people calling for such a thing as he denounced them. “If it is something that we don’t condone for Republicans it should be something we don't condone for Democrats,” he insisted. “I hear this all the time, ‘well, Donald Trump lies always. Therefore, we can say anything about him and it's justified.’ I always ask people, ‘is that what you'll tell your kids?’”

He then turned his attention to Clinton and lambasted him for being surprised that people would ask him such questions. “That is not Craig Melvin, the NBC reporter who ask the questions. It’s not his fault. He gets to ask the questions, Bill Clinton answers the questions.” “Bill Clinton needs to have a good answer for that.” Cillizza wrapped up the segment by calling for people to pay more attention to the work Lewinsky was doing on bullying. “Something I feel very strongly about,” he said.

It’s nice that CNN finally came down hard on the former President, but couldn’t hay have done this a lot sooner? Like in 1998 sooner? There’s a reason their nickname is ‘Clinton News Network.’

The transcript is below, click "expand" to read: