Rep. Ilhan Omar (D-MN) has revealed that she believes Tara Reade’s sexual assault claims against presumptive Democratic nominee Joe Biden, warning that the historical nature of the allegations should not deny her justice.
In an interview with Britain’s Sunday Times, the far-left congresswoman said she trusted Reade’s claims that Joe Biden sexually assaulted her in the halls of Congress while she was working for him as a staffer when Biden was the Senator for Delaware.
“I do believe Reade,” she told the newspaper. “Justice can be delayed, but should never be denied.” According to the interviewer, Omar added that if it was up to her, Biden would not be the Democratic nominee.
Omar’s comments underlined the sharp divisions between the Democratic Party establishment and its growing number of far-left lawmakers, all of whom opposed Biden’s candidacy.
Despite being cheerleaders of the #MeToo anti-sexual harassment movement, practically all major party figures (including Biden himself) have ignored or dismissed the allegations outright, having previously argued that all women should be believed whether or not they can provide evidence.
Meanwhile Omar’s most prominent ally in Congress, Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (D-NY), admitted last week that it “certainly seems as though something has happened.” Both women were strong supporters of Bernie Sanders’s unsuccessful bid for the nomination.
“There have been investigative journalists that have corroborated certain aspects of her account — that is undeniable — [and] have raised questions about other aspects of her account,” Ocasio-Cortez told NPR. “I’m not sure. Frankly, this is a messy moment, and I think we need to acknowledge that — that it is not clear-cut.”
Biden, who has been accused of misconduct by seven other women, has fervently denied the allegations, and he claims not to even remember who Reade is. Last week, he even called on voters who believed her account not to vote for him in November.
“I think they should vote their heart, and if they believe Tara Reade, they probably shouldn’t vote for me,” he said on MSNBC’s The Last Word with Lawrence O’Donnell. “I wouldn’t vote for me if I believed Tara Reade.”
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