Former Vice President Joe Biden, a Democratic candidate for president, addresses a rally at the National Constitution Center in Philadelphia. (Hannah Yoon/The New York Times)
Former vice president and Democratic presumptive presidential nominee Joe Biden will for the first time address a 1993 sexual assault accusation against him made by a former aide on Friday. The White House hopeful’s campaign has repeatedly denied the accusations.
A California woman named Tara Reade has accused Biden of sexually assaulting her in 1993, when she used to work as a staff assistant in Biden’s US Senate office from December 1992 to August 1993.
TV channel MSNBC said on Twitter that Biden is scheduled to be interviewed on the channel’s programme ‘Morning Joe’. However, news agency Reuters reported that his campaign was unavailable for comment.
Earlier on Wednesday, House of Representatives Speaker Nancy Pelosi said that the former vice president had always worked towards supporting policies to stop the abuse of women.
Commenting on these accusations, President Donald Trump also said that he thinks Biden should respond to them. “It could be false accusations. I know all about false accusations,” he added.
Speaking on the incident, Pelosi said that staffers who ran Biden’s Senate office at that time said they have no recollection of a sexual assault complaint.
“I have complete respect for the whole #MeToo movement. There is also due process and the fact that Joe Biden is Joe Biden. He is the personification of hope and optimism and authenticity for our country – a person of great values,” Pelosi said at a news conference.
Reade was one of eight women who last year came forward to say Biden had hugged, kissed or touched them in ways that made them uncomfortable, though none accused him of sexual assault.