President Trump weighed in on the sexual assault allegation against his presumptive Democratic challenger Joe Biden.
On Friday, Trump seemed to sympathize with Biden on the accusation that’s plagued the former vice president’s campaign. Biden is accused of sexually assaulting former Senate staffer Tara Reade in 1993 when he was serving as a senator for Delaware. Reade would have been 28 years old at the time.
“Look, he’s got to fight that battle,” Trump said Friday on Fox & Friends. “I’ve had battles, too, where I’ve had false accusations many times.”
Trump himself has been accused by at least 25 women of sexual misconduct since he was still a rising real estate mogul in the 1970s. The president claims the allegations against him are “false” and said he hopes the one against Biden comes out that way too.
“Maybe it is a false accusation,” Trump said. “Frankly, I hope it is for his sake.”
Reade, now 56, alleges Biden sexually harassed her and assaulted her by forcibly kissing her and penetrating her with his fingers. Reade says she complained about the harassment when it was happening but not the assault to top staff members who deny ever hearing from her. Friends of Reade say they remember hearing about what happened to a varying extent of detail.
On Thursday, Reade told former Fox News and NBC journalist Megyn Kelly she wishes Biden would drop out of the presidential race.
Reade criticized Biden’s campaign, suggesting they’ve taken the position that they want women to be able to speak safely about sexual misconduct situations.
“I have not experienced that,” Reade said.
Since the allegations came to light, Reade said she’s experienced a series of negative encounters on social media and has been accused of being a Russian agent — a claim she says has escalated into death threats for her being a “traitor to America.”
Biden denies the allegations but has not opposed an investigation into the matter.
Last week, Biden said in a statement that he has not reached out to Reade and doesn’t remember her making a complaint in the 1990s.
“This never happened, and when she first made the claim, we made it clear that it never happened, and it’s as simple as that,” Biden said.
