Former Speaker Newt Gingrich (R-Ga.) said Wednesday it was a “mistake” to impeach former President Clinton and added that he believes the real problem was not Clinton’s affair with Monica Lewinsky.

Clinton was impeached by the House in 1998 for perjury and obstruction of justice, though the Senate later acquitted him.

The charges stemmed from his attempts to cover up an extramarital affair with Lewinsky in deposition comments tied to a 1994 sexual harassment lawsuit filed by Paula Jones.

At the time, Lewinsky worked as an unpaid White House intern.

“I think it was a mistake, because the real problem wasn’t Lewinsky. The real problem was he committed perjury in a case involving sexual harassment when he was governor. And perjury’s a felony,” Gingrich said during an appearance on the New York Post’s “Pod Force One” podcast.

“In fact, he was stripped of his law license in Arkansas after he left the presidency, and for five years couldn’t practice because he clearly committed a felony,” he added.

While Clinton was serving as governor of Arkansas, Jones said he attempted to proposition her in a hotel room and asked her for oral sex.

Clinton originally denied the allegations. He settled out of court with Jones in 1998.

“I always argued the question, ‘Is he allowed to commit felonies?’ But by allowing, and this is partly the way the report was written, by allowing it to be about sex, it trivialized it,” Gingrich said.

The former Speaker said the severity of Clinton’s relations with Lewinsky came into full scope during a discussion with his daughters.

“I realized that we were really off course in August of that year, when I was at the OK Cafe in Atlanta with my two daughters, who at that time were, I guess, in their early 20s, and they both said to me, ‘If our friends lose money on their 401(k) because of some stupid intern, we are going to be mad at you,’” Gingrich told host Miranda Devine.

“And I realized at that point I had completely misunderstood how the culture was evolving.”

Gingrich noted that part of the reason former Vice President Al Gore lost in 2000 was because of his decision to distance himself from Clinton, whose popularity resulted in a winning ticket.

The former Speaker said, “He consciously wanted to be a step away from Clinton.”

“And Gore was, frankly, not popular enough to be a step away from Clinton.”

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