Why does everyone want to bury #MeToo?
It all started in Detroit, you know.
Trump says Biden may face more accusers, calls Reade convincing
Whitmer voices doubts about sexual assault allegation against Joe Biden
LANSING — Michigan Gov. Gretchen Whitmer expressed doubts about sexual assault allegations a former U.S. Senate aide made against presumed Democratic presidential candidate Joe Biden, in an interview aired on national TV early Friday.
"The Joe Biden I know, these stories are inconsistent with what I know and what I've seen, in terms of work that he's done to support women," Whitmer said on ABC "Nightline," asked about allegations made against Biden by Tara Reade.
"Women should be able to tell their stories," Whitmer said. That is important to women everywhere and to her personally, "as a survivor myself," she said.
"I'll add that in doing an investigation it has appeared as though there has not been, you know, much beyond that, the story."
Gov. Gretchen Whitmer at a news conference on April 29, 2020.
Gov. Gretchen Whitmer at a news conference on April 29, 2020. (Photo: Michigan State Police)
Whitmer's name has been prominently and repeatedly mentioned as a potential running mate for Biden, as her national profile has skyrocketed amid the coronavirus pandemic. Biden, the former vice president, has said that Whitmer, a national co-chair of his presidential campaign, is on his short list of potential running mates.
Her comments on "Nightline" were the most extensive public comments Whitmer has made to date on the allegations against Biden, which he denies. The interview aired hours before Biden was expected to discuss the allegations on "Morning Joe" on MSNBC Friday morning.
It was not clear what investigation into Reade's allegations Whitmer was referencing in the interview.
In 2019, Reade accused Biden of touching her shoulder and neck in a way that made her uncomfortable, when she worked for him in 1993. In March, Reade said that when she was delivering a gym bag to the former senator, Biden pinned her against a wall and digitally penetrated her without her consent in the basement of a Capitol Hill office.
More: GOP lawmakers want to take Whitmer to court over emergency powers
More: Capitol protesters urge an end to Michigan's state of emergency
On Monday, Business Insider reported that Lynda LaCasse, who was Reade's neighbor in the 1990s, said that when they were neighbors in 1995 or 1996, Reade told her about the senator who "put his hand up her skirt.”
In 2013, during a Michigan Senate debate on a bill that would prohibit insurance companies from including coverage for abortions in health care plans and force women to buy additional insurance to cover them, Whitmer disclosed publicly for the first time that she had been raped while a student at Michigan State University. She never sought to press charges and said she had spent the years since the assault trying not to talk about the experience.
Asked about Reade's allegations in an April 14 interview on National Public Radio, Whitmer said: "Well, I think women should be able to tell their stories. I think that it is important that these allegations are vetted, from the media to beyond."
Such allegations are "something that no one takes lightly," she said. "But it is also something that is, you know, personal. And so it's hard to give you greater insight than that, not knowing more about the situation."
In Friday's ABC interview, Whitmer deflected when asked about joining Biden on the ticket, as she has done in previous interviews.
"All I'm focused on is trying to get through this global pandemic that has ravaged my state, and I'm appreciative of the fact that (Biden) has called to check in, he's asked thoughtful questions, he's given me some counsels that navigated this, and that's been the extent of our conversations," she said.
Voting is beautiful, be beautiful ~ vote.©
No comments:
Post a Comment