Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-Calif.) said Thursday that she is satisfied with former Vice President Joe Biden’s handling of a sexual assault allegation against him, saying that she hasn’t seen evidence to support the accuser’s claims.
Pelosi, who officially endorsed Biden on Monday, said that she was standing by the presumptive Democratic presidential nominee.
“I have great sympathy for any women who bring forth an allegation. I’m a big strong supporter of the ‘Me Too’ movement. I think it’s been a great contribution to our country. And I do support Joe Biden. I’m satisfied with how he has responded. I know him. I was proud to endorse him on Monday,” Pelosi said during an interview with CNN’s “New Day.”
“He’s the personification of hope and optimism for our country, and I was proud to endorse him. America needs a person like Joe Biden with his integrity and his vision for the future,” she added.
Biden’s campaign has denied the allegation from a former Senate aide, Tara Reade, that he sexually assaulted her while they were alone on Capitol Hill in 1993.
Asked if Biden himself should address the allegations, Pelosi declined to say if he should but deferred to the response from his campaign.
“It’s a matter that he has to deal with. But I am impressed with the people who worked with him at the time saying that they absolutely never heard one iota of information about this. Nobody ever brought forth a claim or had anybody tell them about such a claim,” Pelosi said.
Top Democrats have also been standing by Biden, including Sen. Kirsten Gillibrand (D-N.Y.) and Stacey Abrams, a potential running mate for Biden.
Reade first made the accusation against Biden last month. But this week, a former neighbor of Reade’s came forward to say that Reade told her about the allegation in the mid-1990s, becoming the first person to corroborate the accusation on the record.