Joe Biden declined to take an opportunity to address Tara Reade’s allegations of sexual harassment and assault when a donor asked him about sexual assault in the military.
During a virtual fundraiser event on Wednesday, Nancy Parrish, an advocate for ending sexual assault in the military, asked Biden if he supports “moving the military justice system into the 21st century by empowering experienced military prosecutors to make prosecution decisions for non-military crimes – serious felonies like rape, murder, and child abuse.”
Biden responded that he would.
“Look, we have to change the culture of abuse in this country, especially in armed services,” Biden said, according to a pool report. “Commanders are usually in a tough spot,” he added, saying that “you may have somebody who is good at their job, but very bad in [dealing with] abuse.”
The former vice president mentioned his work passing the Violence Against Women Act, but stuck specifically to the issues of military sexual assault. “Ignoring sexual assaults in the ranks goes against everything the military itself stands for,” he said.
While Biden’s campaign has issued blanket denials of Reade’s allegations, he has not spoken about them himself. As drips of new information about Reade’s allegations become public, Biden is facing growing pressure to directly address Reade’s claims.
One donor was reputedly surprised that Biden did not address Reade in his answer. “I thought the question was put on the list with that in mind,” the donor told Politico.
This is not the first opportunity Biden has passed up to address Reade. In a Tuesday, livestreamed event focused on the effect of the coronavirus on women, Biden and former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton did not address Reade’s allegations.
Reade, 56, says that the presumptive Democratic presidential nominee inappropriately touched her hair and neck and penetrated her with his fingers when she worked in his Senate office in 1993. Three top staff members, who Reade says she complained about the harassment to, have denied the allegations, but several people have come forward to say that they remember Reade telling them about the allegations around the time they happened or at some point in the ’90s.
