Anita Hill slams Biden in op-ed, claims Dem might have slowed #MeToo by decades
Anita Hill took aim at Joe Biden once again Thursday, arguing that the #MeToo movement against sexual misconduct might have begun sooner if the Democratic Party's 2020 front-runner would have done a better job of handling her claims of sexual harassment against Supreme Court Justice Clarence Thomas more than 30 years ago. Writing
in the New York Times, Hill slammed the former vice president and U.S.
senator from Delaware, who was chairman of the Senate Judiciary
Committee in 1991 when Hill accused Thomas of sexual harassment during
his Supreme Court confirmation process. “If
the Senate Judiciary Committee, led then by Mr. Biden, had done its job
and held a hearing that showed that its members understood the
seriousness of sexual harassment and other forms of sexual violence, the
cultural shift we saw in 2017 after #MeToo might have began [sic] in
1991 — with the support of the government,” Hill, who is now a professor
at Brandeis University, wrote.
"If the Senate
Judiciary Committee, led then by Mr. Biden, had done its job ... the
cultural shift we saw in 2017 after #MeToo might have began [sic] in
1991." — Anita Hill, writing Thursday in the New York Times
“If
the government had shown that it would treat survivors with dignity and
listen to women, it could have had a ripple effect,” Hill continued in the Times piece,
which was titled, "Let's Talk About How to End Sexual Violence."
“Instead, far too many survivors kept their stories hidden for years.”
Former Vice President Joe Biden,left, served as chairman of the
Senate Judiciary Committee in 1991 when Anita Hill, right, testified
allegations of sexual misconduct by then-Supreme Court nominee Judge
Clarence Thomas.(Associated Press)
Biden officially announced his bid for the 2020
presidency in April. During a private phone call with Hill beforehand,
he reportedly expressed regret over how she was treated during the
Thomas confirmation hearings but fell short of apologizing for his own
actions. “Sexual violence is a national crisis that requires a
national solution. We miss that point if we end the discussion at
whether I should forgive Mr. Biden,” Hill continued in her piece. “This
crisis calls for all leaders to step up and say: 'The healing from
sexual violence must begin now. I will take up that challenge.'” In
an interview with "The View" after announcing his 2020 candidacy, Biden
denied ever treating Hill badly during the 1991 hearings and praised
the professor for her contributions toward #MeToo. "She's one of
the reasons why we have the #MeToo movement, she's one of the reasons
why I was able to finish writing the Violence Against Women Act, she's
one of the reasons why I committed ... there'd never be a Judiciary
Committee I was on that didn't have women on it," he said. Biden
himself has not been accused of sexual harassment but since announcing
his candidacy he has received backlash for being overly touchy with
women and girls over the years. Fox News' Paulina Dedaj contributed to this report.
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