Biden fronts to deny aide’s sex assault allegation
PRESUMPTIVE Democratic nominee Joe Biden yesterday denied that he sexually assaulted a former Senate aide, delivering his first public comments about an allegation that has prompted a collision between the presidential race and the #MeToo movement and forced a difficult reckoning in a party determined to unseat President Donald Trump in November.
In a lengthy statement and later a television interview, Biden said unequivocally that former Senate aide Tara Reade’s claims that he reached up her skirt and penetrated her in 1993 were untrue. ‘‘This never happened,’’ said Biden, who also insisted that women like Reade deserve to be treated with respect.
Speaking on MSNBC’s Morning Joe, he repeated himself: ‘‘It was 27 years ago, this never happened, and when she first made the claim, we made it clear that it never happened.’’
The allegation has pushed the topic of sexual assault to the forefront of the campaign after a primary cycle that featured a field with multiple female candidates and Biden’s pledge to name a woman as his running mate.
His emphatic denial calmed some allies, but Biden left open questions of whether records exist that could shed more light on Reade’s nine-month employment in his Senate office.
He said relevant documents would not be found in his Senate papers, which are closed to the public.
Any complaint that Reade filed would be held at the National Archives, Biden said. (Reade has said she filed a report on an earlier allegation of harassment but not sexual assault. She said she cannot recall the office to which she filed it and does not have a copy.)
But a spokesperson for the Archives said that any documents ‘‘would have remained under the control of the Senate’’.
A Senate resolution requires personnel records to remain out of public view for 50 years.
Biden’s comments came after a week of immense strain for him and his campaign as they confronted the biggest test yet of his bid for the White House. Until yesterday, Biden’s campaign had denied Reade’s accusation, but the candidate himself had not addressed it. Reade did not reply to requests for comment.
Biden appeared to consider his words to avoid inflaming concerns that he was slighting Reade. ‘‘Women have a right to be heard,’’ he said but added that ‘‘in the end in every case, the truth is what matters’’.
Biden declined to offer a theory for what he contended was a false claim.
‘‘I don’t understand it.’’
Washington Post