These 8 Women Have Accused Joe Biden Of Sexual Misconduct, Inappropriate Touching
Former Vice President Joe Biden, the presumptive 2020 Democratic presidential nominee, has been accused of sexual misconduct and inappropriate touching by at least eight women, most recently Tara Reade, a former staffer in Biden’s Delaware Senate office in the early 1990s.
Reade claims Biden sexually assaulted her by penetrating her with his fingers in 1993, an accusation that has been corroborated by several pieces of evidence, including two women who said Reade told her about the assault shortly after it occurred.
Additionally, a resurfaced clip from an August 1993 episode of ‘Larry King Live’ appears to show a woman, who Reade claims is her mother, calling into the show to discuss an issue her daughter was having with a then-senator.
“I handed [Biden] the [gym bag]. He greeted me. He remembered my name. And then we were alone,” Reade said when describing her allegation against Biden on a podcast that aired last week. “It was the strangest thing. There was no like exchange really. He just had me up against the wall. I was wearing like a skirt, a business skirt. I wasn’t wearing stockings. It was kind of a hot day that day, and I was wearing heels…I remember I was wearing a blouse, and he just had me up against the wall. And the wall was cold. It happened all at once…his hands were on me and underneath my clothes. Yeah, and he went down my skirt but then up inside it, and he penetrated me with his fingers, and he was kissing me at the same time, and he was saying something to me. He said several things. I can’t remember everything he said.”
“It seemed surreal,” she added. “I felt sick because when he
pulled back he looked annoyed, and he said something else to me that I don’t
want to say. And then he said, I must have looked shocked. He grabbed me by the
shoulders… and he said, ‘You’re OK, you’re fine.’ And then he walked away.”
Aside from
Reade, there are at least seven other women who have accused Biden on the
record of sexual misconduct or inappropriate touching, as outlined by The Cut.
Lucy Flores
Lucy Flores, a former Democrat Party nominee for Lieutenant Governor of Nevada, previously told the media about her alleged exchange with Biden. When the former Vice President was at an event for her campaign in 2014, he approached her, grabbed her hair, and started kissing her on the back of the neck. At the time, Flores said she was embarrassed and in disbelief. She said she tried to get away from him as quickly as possible.
Amy Lappos
Amy Lappos was working
for U.S. Representative Jim Himes in 2009 when her alleged encounter with Biden
occurred at a political fundraiser.
“It wasn’t sexual, but he did grab me by the
head,” claimed Lappos. “He put his hand around my neck and pulled me in to
rub noses with me. When he was pulling me in, I thought he was going to kiss me
on the mouth.”
At the time, Lappos said she did not want to pursue a formal complaint against Biden because “he was the Vice President” and she “was a nobody.”
D.J. Hill
“D.J. Hill was one of two women to come forward with allegations
in The New York Times, which referred to Biden’s
conduct as ‘tactile politics’ in a report published on April 2,” The Cut
reported. “At a 2012 at a fundraising event in Minneapolis, Hill alleges that
Biden rested his hand on her shoulder, and then started to move it down her
back, which left her feeling ‘very uncomfortable.’”
“Only he knows his intent,” said Hill,
adding, “If something makes you feel uncomfortable, you have to feel able
to say it.”
Caitlyn Caruso
Caitlyn Caruso told the New York Times that Biden hugged her “just a little bit too long” and laid his hand on her thigh after she shared a story of alleged sexual assault with him.
“It doesn’t even really cross your mind that
such a person would dare perpetuate harm like that,” Caruso said. “These
are supposed to be people you can trust.”
Ally Coll
“On April 3, Ally Coll told The Washington Post that at a 2008 reception, Biden squeezed her shoulders, complimented her smile, and held her ‘for a beat too long,’” The Cut detailed.
“A young Democratic staffer at the time, Coll said her initial reaction was to shrug it off. But she told the Post she now feels the alleged incident was inappropriate, adding, ‘There’s been a lack of understanding about the way that power can turn something that might seem innocuous into something that can make somebody feel uncomfortable.’”
Sofie Karasek
Sofie Karasek, a victim of a previous sexual assault, said that Biden held her hands and touched their foreheads together at the Oscars in 2016, a moment that was captured by photographers and celebrated in the media.
“He emphasized that he wants to connect with
people and, of course, that’s important,” Karasek told The Washington Post of
Biden’s video explaining his tendency to violate women’s space. “But again, all
of our interactions and friendships are a two-way street … Too often it doesn’t
matter how the woman feels about it or they just assume that they’re fine with
it.”
Vail Konhert-Yount
“Vail Kohnert-Yount alleged that when she was a White House intern in the spring of 2013, Biden ‘put his hand on the back of [her] head and pressed his forehead to [her] forehead’ when he introduced himself, and that he called her a ‘pretty girl,’” The Cut reported.
“She was ‘so shocked,’ she said, ‘that it was hard to focus on what he was saying.’ Though she told the Post that she doesn’t believe Biden’s conduct constituted sexual misconduct, she described it as ‘the kind of inappropriate behavior that makes many women feel uncomfortable and unequal in the workplace.’”
Steeve Strange is the CEO and Co-Founder of The Scoop. Follow Steeve on Twitter @TheScoopSteeve, on Instagram @TheScoopSteeve, and on Facebook @TheScoopSteeve.
