With former Vice President Joe Biden’s nomination as the Democratic Party’s candidate for president in the November election all but assured, House Speaker Nancy Pelosi endorsed him Monday in a recorded video.
Amid the glowing words, there was no mention of Tara Reade, who has accused Biden of sexually assaulting her in 1993.
“Today, I am proud to endorse Joe Biden for president of the United States because he will be an extraordinary president. He knows how to get the job done,” Pelosi said in a video posted on Twitter.
“When our nation faced the Great Recession, it was Joe Biden who led the implementation — and the accountability — of the Recovery Act, helping create and save millions of jobs,” the California Democrat said. “When the Democratic Congress was passing the Affordable Care Act, Joe Biden was a partner for progress in the White House and also championed the Cancer Moonshot.
“When the Trump administration launched its campaign to destroy every last benefit and protection of the ACA, Joe Biden has been with us every step of the way to protect Americans’ quality affordable health care.
“And as we face coronavirus, Joe has been a voice of reason and resilience with a clear path to lead us out of this crisis.”
“Joe Biden brings values and integrity to work every day, because he never forgets his roots,” Pelosi said.
“Now more than ever we need a forward-looking, battle-tested leader who will fight for the people: a president with the values, experience and the strategic thinking to bring our nation together and build a better, fairer world for our children,” she said.
“For these and other reasons, I am proud to endorse Joe Biden for president, a leader who is the personification of hope and courage, values, authenticity and integrity.”
Reade, who worked for Biden from 1992 to 1993 while he was a U.S. senator representing Delaware, has said Biden kissed, groped and digitally penetrated her during an unwanted sexual advance.
In its reporting on Pelosi’s endorsement, Fox News noted that during a weekend interview on CNN and another on MSNBC on Monday, Pelosi was neither asked about nor brought up the allegations against Biden.
That silence came despite the revelation Friday that Reade’s mother called in to CNN’s “Larry King Live” in 1993. A video clip of the show included a woman who Reade said was her mother asking a question obliquely referencing Reade’s claim that she was sexually assaulted by Biden. Weeks before the video clip surfaced, Reade had said her mother made such a call.
Fox News said that when it asked Pelosi’s office for comment about Reade’s allegations, it was referred to a Pelosi interview from April 17 in which she was asked if she was satisfied with the Biden campaign’s denial that Reade’s allegation was true.
“Yes, I am. I am very much involved in this issue. I always want to give the opportunity that women deserve to be heard. I am satisfied with his answer, yes,” she said then.
In 2018, when Christine Blasey Ford came forward with allegations against then-Supreme Court nominee Brett Kavanaugh, Pelosi said in a statement, “Survivors should be supported when they come forward without the fear of threats or further trauma.”
