Anita Hill's Biden Answer May Be Good News for Him

'Of course I could' vote for him, she says
By Rob Quinn,  Newser Staff
Posted Jun 14, 2019 7:42 AM CDT
Could Anita Hill Vote for Biden? 'Of Course I Could'
Anita Hill attends the DVF Awards at the Brooklyn Museum on April 11, 2019, in Brooklyn, NY.   (Photo by Andy Kropa/Invision/AP)

If there was one person you'd bet won't be sporting a "Vote for Biden" T-shirt during election season, it might be Anita Hill. After all, Hill didn't seem completely won over earlier this year when the former VP called her to express regret (but not to explicitly apologize) for how she'd been treated during the 1991 confirmation hearings for Supreme Court Justice Clarence Thomas, a hearing at which she accused Thomas of sexual harassment. Biden chaired the panel who grilled her. Hill said in April that while she's "really open to people changing," she wanted to see Biden take full responsibility for his conduct during the hearing—including not calling other female witnesses to back up Hill's testimony, per the New York Times. In an interview with Andrea Mitchell of NBC, Mitchell pressed Hill again on whether she could see herself casting a ballot for Biden.

Hill's answer: "Of course I could," per NBC. "I don't think [his previous behavior] has disqualified him. He's perfectly capable of running for president." She added that, although she does hold Biden at least partly responsible for the 1991 proceedings, "I think we will have to make our decisions about what we want our leaders to be doing in the future around these issues of gender violence." What she would prefer: "I really want our leaders to stand up and say what happened in 1991 will never happen again." Hill also said there was "absolutely not" any "moral equivalency" between Biden and President Trump, in regard to allegations of sexual harassment against the latter. She also declined to name her own favorite for 2020. (Pundits wonder if the Anita Hill topic could turn into a real problem for Biden in his run for the presidency.)

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