Former Vice President of the United States Joe Biden, a virtual Democratic candidate for the White House in the November elections, this Friday broke the silence on the accusations of a former employee of the Senate to deny that he had abused her 27 years ago.
The alleged victim, Tara Reade, who coordinated the scholarship program at Biden’s office in 1993, claimed in April that the then-senator had abused her in a hallway on Capitol Hill. Previously, he had accused him of touching, giving rise to a suspicion that has clouded the Democratic campaign.
“It is not true. It never happened,” Biden has stated emphatically, in a statement in which he defended that, throughout his political career, he has demonstrated his commitment to combat violence against women and to pursue abuses such as those have been charged in recent weeks.
Thus, although he has admitted that “the details of these accusations” are “complicated”, he has pointed out that it is necessary that any message be submitted “to appropriate investigation and analysis”, questioning the veracity of Reade’s version.
In this sense, he has urged the media to take into account the “inconsistencies” of the version of the alleged victim, “which has changed repeatedly.” Biden has assured that the staff who worked with him at the time are not aware of the alleged abuses.
It has also pointed out that there is a way to verify if, as Reade assures, she filed a formal complaint in 1993 – “she does not have a record of the alleged complaint” -. Biden has said that, if it exists, the document would be in the National Archives, so he has urged the Senate to investigate whether it exists.
“As a presidential candidate, I must be accountable to the American people. We have already lived a lot with a president who believes that he is not responsible to anyone, that he does not take responsibility for anything. I am not like that,” he added, aware that this transparency it can lead to “uncomfortable” situations.
If she gets to the White House, she has promised to make fighting gender violence “a priority.” “I started my job 25 years ago with the passage of the Violence Against Women Act. As president, I am determined to finish the job,” he concluded.
