Joe Biden Says Anita Hill 'Was Vilified' and Expresses Regret, But It's Not Enough
PoliticsI really, really want to like Joe Biden. Though his record on progressive policies is mixed, he’s like the white grandpa I didn’t know I had. During his long career he has strengthened policies against campus sexual assault, helped pass the Violence Against Women Act, which he also wrote. He’s one of the most vocal male allies in the #MeToo movement in Washington, D.C. But every time Biden, who may be angling for a presidential bid in 2020, speaks about Anita Hill, it is so frustrating.
In an interview with NBC’s Today, Biden condemned his colleagues for their treatment of Hill, who accused Supreme Court Justice Clarence Thomas, then a nominee, of sexual harassment. The 1991 hearing was more like a trial—Hill versus 14 white men in a committee headed by Biden, who rushed the process against the request of his female colleagues; did not block offensive, invasive questions and comments from his colleagues; did not include key witnesses who backed Hill’s experiences; and, at the last minute, switched the order of the testimonies, allowing Thomas to preemptively discredit Hill and defend himself.
Yet nearly 30 years later, as he extends support for Christine Blasey Ford, who has accused Supreme Court nominee Brett Kavanaugh, Biden is still sidestepping his role in the way the proceedings went off the rails. “Anita Hill was vilified when she came forward by a lot of my colleagues, character assassination,” he said. “I wish I could have done more to prevent those questions and the way they asked them.”
While he acknowledged some mistakes, Biden mostly positioned his colleagues as the bullies. “My biggest regret was, I didn’t know how I could shut you off because you were a senator and you were attacking Anita Hill’s character,” he said. “Under the Senate rules I can’t gavel you down and say you can’t ask that question, although I tried.”