Anita Hill has spoken out in support of Joe Biden, despite the way he handled her testimony during Supreme Court Justice Clarence Thomas’ confirmation almost three decades ago.
Hill feels Biden did not take her allegations seriously.
“Notwithstanding all of his limitations in the past, and the mistakes that he made in the past, notwithstanding those – at this point, between Donald Trump and Joe Biden, I think Joe Biden is the person who should be elected in November,” Hill told CNN. “Its more about the survivors of gender violence. That’s really what it’s about. […] My commitment is to finding solutions, and I am more than willing to work with him,” Hill said.
Hill added that she’d like to work on issues of sexual harassment, gender violence and gender discrimination.
At the time, Biden was chairman of the Senate Judiciary Committee in 1991 when Thomas was nominated to the Supreme Court bench by President George H.W. Bush. Hill presented allegations that Thomas had sexually harassed her when they worked together at the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission.
Thomas denied the allegations, labeling the hearings a “high-tech lynching.”
Biden has denied being dismissive of Hill’s claims.
“I believed her story from the very beginning,” Biden told CNN in July. “I wish I could have protected her more. … I did get in shouting matches, as you’ll remember, with some of the witnesses who were saying things that were off the wall.”
He also refutes Hill’s claims that he lost control.
“I don’t think I did,” he said. “I wish I could have done it differently under the rules. But when it ended, I was determined to do two things. One, make sure never again would there not be women on the committee. … And I was determined to continue and finish writing and passing the Violence Against Women Act.”
