Sen. Elizabeth Warren is a hypocrite. This isn’t news — frankly, it’s something we’ve known for quite some time now.
Whether it’s attacking 2020 competitor Pete Buttigieg for the same kind of fundraising from millionaires that she herself had just recently engaged in, or lying to smear rival Bernie Sanders as sexist, Warren has a long record of insincerity. But even with all this in mind, the glaring hypocrisy posed by the senator’s late-in-the-game endorsement of presumptive Democratic nominee Joe Biden is a doozy.
In a compelling video released Wednesday, Warren endorsed Biden and backed his 2020 campaign. She also said Wednesday evening that she would agree to be his running mate if asked. Warren’s endorsement focused on Biden’s character, highlighting what she sees as his compassion, fundamental decency, and competence. It was, honestly, a well-done and moving endorsement.
In this moment of crisis, it’s more important than ever that the next president restores Americans’ faith in good, effective government—and I’ve seen Joe Biden help our nation rebuild. Today, I’m proud to endorse @JoeBiden as President of the United States. pic.twitter.com/VrfBtJvFee
— Elizabeth Warren (@ewarren) April 15, 2020
There’s just one glaring problem. Biden now faces an accusation of sexual assault. It isn’t necessarily true, but Warren has established herself as one of the nation’s most prominent #MeToo advocates, demanding in the past that we “believe all women” and railing against Republicans who faced similar or even more unfounded accusations, such as Supreme Court Justice Brett Kavanaugh.
A quick recap of the facts here is in order.
When Professor Christine Blasey Ford accused then-Supreme Court nominee Kavanaugh of sexual assault, she had no evidence, no corroboration, and her story had changed over time. In fact, she couldn’t even remember where or when this alleged assault had taken place, nor could she prove she’d ever met Kavanaugh, let alone been assaulted by him. Yet the professor gave compelling testimony before the Senate and accused the judge publicly, and for Warren, this was enough.
The senator called Blasey Ford’s account “harrowing,” praised her courage, and said, “I believe Dr. Ford.” Warren said, “Nobody is entitled to a lifetime appointment on the Supreme Court … Dr. Ford’s credible accusations [are] sufficient reason to vote no on Judge Kavanaugh’s nomination.”
“Republicans are playing politics with the Supreme Court,” Warren continued. “And they are willing to step on anyone, including the victim of a vicious sexual assault, in order to advance their agenda.”
“Some [women] make the difficult and personal decisions to come forward and tell their stories,” Warren went on. “They, like all survivors, are courageous, and they deserve to be heard and treated with respect.”
“Members of [the Senate] should vote no on Judge Kavanaugh,” the senator concluded. “Our country deserves better.”
Now that Biden faces an accusation, boy has Warren’s tune changed. Suddenly, she herself is the one “willing to step on the [alleged] victim of a vicious sexual assault” to advance her party’s agenda. Former Senate staffer Tara Reade has accused her former boss of sexually assaulting her in 1993. In this case, unlike that of Blasey Ford, we can actually place Reade in the same room as Biden, since she did indeed work in his Senate office. And although her story has inconsistencies, it also has more contemporaneous corroboration than Ford’s ever did.
Warren doesn’t care because Biden is a Democrat. The senator released her Biden endorsement just days after the New York Times published an explosive story on the Reade allegations. It didn’t make her rethink anything. Far from “hearing” out a “courageous survivor” and “treating her with respect,” Warren has given Reade the cold shoulder and disregarded a more credible accusation than the one that she believed disqualified Kavanaugh from public life.
To quote the senator herself, “Our country deserves better.”
