Stay tuned for complete revision of what he’s previously said.
Joe Biden stumbled over his words while reconciling his denials of Tara Reade’s sexual assault allegations with his statements about the allegations against Supreme Court Justice Brett Kavanaugh.
In September 2018, as the Senate grappled with accusations from Christine Blasey Ford that the then-Supreme Court nominee assaulted her when they were in high school, Biden declared that women who came forward with allegations should be believed.
“For a woman to come forward in the glaring lights of focus, nationally, you’ve got to start off with the presumption that at least the essence of what she is talking about is real, whether or not she forgets facts, whether or not it’s been made worse or better over time,” he said.
His comment was often mentioned after Reade in March accused Biden of penetrating her with his fingers and forcibly kissing her in 1993, when she worked in his Senate office — a charge that he denies ever happened. MSNBC host Mika Brzezinski brought up the statement in Biden’s first interview directly addressing Reade’s allegations.