Speaking with CNN's Alisyn Camerota Thursday, House Speaker Nancy Pelosi defended her endorsement of Democratic presidential candidate Joe Biden despite his former staffer, a woman named Tara Read, coming forward with credible allegations of sexual assault against Biden stemming from when she worked for him back in the 1990s.
"I’m a big strong supporter of the #MeToo movement," Pelosi said.
"And I do support Joe Biden. I’m satisfied with how he has responded," she went on. "I know him, I was proud to endorse him on Monday. Very proud to endorse him. And so I’m satisfied with that."
To her credit, Camerota pushed back on Pelosi's response, pointing out that Biden hasn't actually addressed the allegations at all.
"To be clear, he hasn’t addressed it. His campaign has addressed it, but he has not, directly. Should he directly, publicly address it?” she asked.
“You know, it’s a matter that he has to deal with,” Pelosi hedged.
The House Speaker then pointed to women who’ve worked for Biden in the past, who she claims said there was “never one iota” of sexual misconduct by the then-Senator. (Interestingly, Pelosi didn’t find that same defense nearly as weighty when then-SCOTUS nominee Brett Kavanaugh produced a signed statement by his female staffers vouching for his reputation.)
Pelosi then pivoted to why it’s apparently so important to support Joe Biden despite Reade's accusations, because it’s a “crucial” election year against Donald Trump and Biden is the “personification of hope.”
Read has accused Biden of pushing her up against a wall and digitally penetrating her when she worked for his office in 1993. Video footage unearthed by the MRC shows Reade's mother calling into Larry King's show on CNN at the time and suggesting her daughter had had a "problem" with a "prominent senator" but couldn't get it addressed in D.C. At least three others, including Reade's friend, her brother, and a next door neighbor, have gone on record as saying Reade told them about the incident at the time, but refused to file a police report out of fear of retribution.