Biden’s silence on assault claim worries Dems
A sexual assault allegation is raising Joe Biden’s first big challenge as the Democrats’ presidential nominee, fuelling Republican attacks and leaving many in his own party in an uncomfortable bind.
Biden’s campaign has denied the allegation from his former Senate staffer Tara Reade, who has said Biden assaulted her in the basement of a Capitol Hill office building in the 1990s. But the story garnered fresh attention this week after two of Reade’s associates said she previously told them about elements of her allegations.
Republicans who are worried about President Donald Trump’s increasingly precarious political standing are seizing on the allegation to portray Democrats as hypocrites who only defend women who allege wrongdoing against conservatives.
They are digging in despite the fact that it could renew attention on the multiple sexual assault allegations lodged against Trump.
Democrats, meanwhile, are in an awkward position of vigorously validating women who come forward with their stories while defending the man who will be their standardbearer in what many in the party consider the most important election of their lifetimes.
The tension is heightened because Biden himself is saying nothing about the allegation. Some Democrats say that approach isn’t working and are urging a more forceful response.
“It’s not helping, it’s just damaging — not only to the person who has come forward, but it’s also damaging the candidate,” said former Democratic National Committee chairwoman Donna Brazile.
The November contest between Biden and Trump will be the first presidential race of the #MeToo era. Trump himself has been accused of assault and unwanted touching by numerous women, which he denies.
Women are a core constituency for Democrats, and Biden has a mixed history. While he wrote the Violence Against Women Act as a senator, he also came under heavy criticism for his handling of Anita Hill’s Senate testimony in the 1990s. Just before he launched his 2020 campaign, several women accused him of unwanted touching, for which he apologised.
Biden has pledged to pick a woman as a running mate, and the allegation has left those thought to be in contention in a tough spot.
Stacey Abrams, the former Georgia Democratic governor candidate, said, “Women deserve to be heard, and I believe they need to be listened to, but I also believe that those allegations have to be investigated by credible sources.”
The Biden campaign has pointed to investigations by the New York Times, the Washington Post and the AP that found no other allegation of sexual assault and no pattern of sexual misconduct.
Some female Democratic operatives expressed concerns the allegation is particularly damaging because it’s an indictment of Biden’s central campaign rationale: that he provides a moral counter to Trump.
“I think the stakes could not be higher for defeating Donald Trump — but at the same time, I think we have to apply a consistent standard for how we treat allegations of sexual assault, and also be clear-eyed about how Trump will use these allegations in the general election campaign,” said Claire Sandberg, who worked as Bernie Sanders’ organising director.
Even some GOP Trump antagonists say the opportunity for the president is obvious. Rick Tyler, a former spokesman for Texas Republican Senator Ted Cruz noted that the coronavirus outbreak and subsequent economic crash have “ruled out any prospect that Republicans could run on great economic times.”
“And so what’s left? What’s left is scorched earth, and that means digging up anything they can about Biden,” he said. “They’re trying to make Joe Biden into something that’s worse than Donald Trump.”