Politics & Power Quote by Michael Kinsley

Kinsley’s knife twist here is the timeline: 1977 versus 2003, swagger versus amnesia. The line isn’t mainly about what was said in that long-ago interview; it’s about what kind of man wanted to be seen saying it, and what kind of candidate later wants the public to believe he can’t recall it. That contrast is the point, and it’s brutal because it treats “I don’t remember” not as a defense but as a second confession.

The specific intent is to corner a politician in a credibility trap. If, in 1977, he “wished to have people believe” he was proud of a sexist attitude, then the original act wasn’t a slip; it was performance. Kinsley is highlighting the deliberate self-branding that often masquerades as candor: the young man signaling toughness, entitlement, locker-room authority. The payoff comes decades later when the same figure, now running for office, adopts the safest possible posture: not apology, not disavowal, but selective memory.

The subtext is that character isn’t just what you did, it’s what you wanted credit for doing. Kinsley also quietly indicts the political calculus that makes amnesia feel viable: the belief that voters will accept forgetfulness where they wouldn’t accept either honesty or remorse. That’s why the phrasing “at least” lands so hard: it grants the minimum charitable reading while still making the conclusion damning. The cynicism is controlled, not showy; he doesn’t need to call it a lie. He just lets the two eras speak, and the gap between them does the moral work.