Joe Biden calls Anita Hill courageous during during Clarence Thomas confirmation hearing ‘I wish I could have done something’
Former Vice President Joe Biden, facing renewed criticism in the #MeToo era on his approach to the 1991 Anita Hill hearing accusing Clarence Thomas of sexual misconduct, admitted on Tuesday that he wished he would have done more.
—Mom heartbroken after 10-year-old son kills himself because of school bullying—
“A brave lawyer, a really notable woman, Anita Hill, a professor, showed the courage of a lifetime talking about her experience being harassed by Clarence Thomas,” Biden said during The Biden Courage Awards according to The NY Daily News. “But she paid a terrible price. She was abused in the hearing. She was taken advantage of. Her reputation was attacked. I wish I could have done something.”
Biden has apologized before but some are calling him out for not making it clearer where he stands on issues concerning women given that he is rumored to be gearing up for a 2020 presidential run.
In 1991, Hill testified before the Senate Judiciary Committee that Clarence Thomas had repeatedly harassed her when he was her boss, and that she thought he would be unsuitable to sit on the U.S. Supreme Court.
Biden, who was the chairman of the Senate Judiciary Committee at the time, voted against Thomas’ nomination. However, he’s been criticized for not calling witnesses to testify on Hill’s behalf.
Last year Anita Hill said that while Biden has apologized publicly, she has never received one personally.
“The statute of limitations has run on an apology. I don’t need an apology,” she said during an event at USC in November, according to The Wrap. “But sometimes when the doorbell rings, and I am not expecting anyone, I think, could that be Joe Biden?”
Your move, Joe!
