Former Vice President Joe Biden said that voters should choose between voting for him and believing Tara Reade during an interview Thursday on MSNBC.
Biden spoke about the allegations in an hour-long interview on “The Last Word with Lawrence O’Donnell.” The MSNBC host brought up Reade, who in March accused Biden of sexually assaulting her in the early 1990s.
The former vice president repeated his past denials that “it never, ever happened.” O’Donnell then directed Biden to an op-ed published May 6 in the New York Times titled, “I Believe Tara Reade. I’m Voting for Joe Biden Anyway” and asked him to respond to women who are prepared to vote for him but believe Reade.
“Well, I think they should vote their heart and if they believe Tara Reade, they probably shouldn’t vote for me,” Biden replied. “I wouldn’t vote for me if I believed Tara Reade.”
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Biden continued on to note that Reade’s story has changed “considerably” and that Reade’s claims hold “no truth.” (RELATED: ‘Step Forward And Be Held Accountable’: Tara Reade Calls On Joe Biden To Withdraw From Presidential Race)
“This is being vetted, it’s been vetted, and people interviewed scores of my employees over my whole career,” Biden said. “This is just totally, thoroughly, completely out of character. And the idea that in a public place, in a hallway I would assault a woman? I mean, it’s just – I – anyway, I promise you. It never happened.”
Biden also said Thursday evening that he doesn’t remember Reade being one of his staffers when he worked as a Delaware senator. He added that her allegations “should be taken seriously” and “thoroughly vetted.”