She later clarified what she meant, in her 2008 interview with Time magazine by saying: "People misunderstood that phrase. I was deploring the way in which Pres

She later clarified what she meant, in her 2008 interview with Time magazine by saying: "People misunderstood that phrase. I was deploring the way in which President Clinton was being treated, vis-à-vis the sex scandal that was surrounding him. I said he was being treated like a black on the street, already guilty, already a perp. I have no idea what his real instincts are, in terms of race." In her original comment it is more limited even than that - it refers to hearing other people "murmuring" of Clinton as "the first Black president" in the context of his impeachment, rather than giving some sort of unqualified endorsement of the idea herself; but people do love an inflammatory sound byte.