Former Vice President Joseph R. Biden on Tuesday said women “should be believed” and have a right to be heard but reiterated that an allegation of sexual assault from a former staffer “did not happen.”
“I think women should be believed,” he said, noting they should have an opportunity to present their case.
Mr. Biden, the presumptive Democratic presidential nominee, said it’s then the responsibility of the media to go out and investigate the claims.
“At the end of the day, the truth is the truth — that’s what should prevail,” he said on ABC’s “Good Morning America.” “The truth is this never happened. This never happened … that’s the truth.”
He said it’s the right of Americans who say they won’t vote for him because they believe Tara Reade, who has accused Mr. Biden of digitally penetrating her when she worked in his Senate office during the 1990s.
She told journalist Megyn Kelly last week that she would take a polygraph test if Mr. Biden did as well and said she wished he would drop out of the presidential race.
Top Democrats have swiftly rallied around Mr. Biden after many in the party had dragged U.S. Supreme Court Justice Brett M. Kavanaugh over the coals when he had faced allegations of improper behavior during his confirmation process in 2018.
