Bill Clinton's 'dramatic' vegan transformation

(Image credit: Chip Somodevilla/Getty Images)

last updated 8 January 2015

The video: As president, Bill "Bubba" Clinton was known for his love of Big Macs and a certain doughy charm, but times have changed. In a CNN interview airing this Sunday, Clinton, who underwent a quadruple bypass surgery in 2004, tells Dr. Sanjay Gupta that he's now essentially a vegan, having cut meat, dairy, and fish out of his diet. (See video below.) When asked if he missed his halcyon hamburger days, Clinton, who has lost 20 pounds, replies, "I like the vegetables, the fruits, the beans... the stuff I eat now, I like." Is his "dramatic dietary transformation" yet another sign that veganism is being embraced by mainstream big wigs?

The reaction: Clinton's boasting "blows my mind," says David Weigel at Slate. It just shows how rapidly our perception of veganism has shifted. As recently as 2007, Dennis Kucinich's veganism "was covered as proof of his essential weirdness." But now a diet once associated with "dog walkers and people who rescue food from dumpsters" has gone mainstream almost as quickly as gay marriage. With this, Clinton joins the growing ranks of "power-players" who are going vegan or at least vegetarian, says The Huffington Post. Twitter co-founder Biz Stone is vegan, while Colorado Congressman Jared Polis (D-Colo.) reportedly keeps a "meat-product free home with his vegan partner." Check out Clinton's comments: