Joe Biden, the presumptive Democratic presidential nominee, is facing growing pressure to publicly address an allegation of sexual assault made by Tara Reade, a former aide to his Senate office.
The former vice-president has remained silent about the accusation, a position that is seen as increasingly untenable in the wake of new reporting. Many major Democratic women’s organizations and prominent feminists have also declined to comment publicly on Reade’s claim that Biden, then a senator from Delaware, assaulted her in 1993. Will he be addressing the claim anytime soon? On Wednesday, the New York Times reported that women’s rights activists are quietly pushing Biden to break his silence. According to the Times, some of the women’s groups involved drafted a public letter that they have not released, which praises Biden’s work as an “outspoken champion for survivors of sexual violence” while encouraging him to “model how to take serious allegations seriously.” An editorial in the Washington Post called on Biden to address the claims against him and release any records related to Reade’s employment, including any complaints she may have filed while working in his office. Also read: Trump claims he has evidence that coronavirus may have originated in Chinese lab but says he isn’t allow to show it