Michigan Gov. Gretchen Whitmer, a Democrat, said she believes former Vice President Joe Biden’s denial of a sexual assault allegation against him.
Biden, the presumptive Democratic presidential nominee for November’s election, was accused of sexually harassing and assaulting Tara Reade, a woman who worked in his Senate office in the early 1990s. Reade, 52, accused Biden of inappropriately touching her and penetrating her with his fingers while forcibly kissing her without her consent, which he has vehemently denied.
Whitmer, who is believed to be among candidates under Biden’s consideration for his running mate, defended him, citing “inconsistencies” with Reade’s allegations when she was asked about the matter during a Wednesday interview on The View.
“As a survivor myself, I wanted to know that women are able to come forward and to tell their stories and we listen to them. For a long time, women were dismissed, and now, we’re being listened to, and I think that that is really important. As a lawyer, I recognize that it’s important that we vet and understand and ask questions and determine credibility of all parties in any type of an allegation,” she said, referencing how she was sexually assaulted during her freshman year at Michigan State University.
“In looking at this, I think that the inconsistencies that I’ve seen gives me, you know, the judgment that I believe Joe, and I think that it’s important to note that the vast majority of women who come forward, statistics show that they are telling the story that is true,” Whitmer added. “In this instance, I do believe Joe Biden, and everyone needs to make that judgment, weigh the facts, and make the determination for themselves, but the Joe Biden that I know is inconsistent with what we have seen and what we have heard around this particular allegation.”
Some aspects of Reade’s allegation have shifted over time as Whitmer mentioned, which the Biden campaign has emphasized.
In 2019, Reade publicly accused Biden of inappropriately touching her hair and neck, in addition to mistreatment from senior staff in his office, but she did not mention the alleged sexual assault until March of this year. Reade has said that she did not initially reveal the assault allegation in part because she was afraid and in part because of how reporters at the time talked to her.
Whiter was also asked about the possibility of being named Biden’s running mate to which she responded that it was “not a conversation that we’ve had in any depth at this juncture.”
