Eric Holder defends Biden: Allegation ‘inconsistent with the person who I’ve come to know’

Former Obama administration Attorney General Eric Holder defended presumptive Democratic nominee Joe Biden on Friday night, saying an allegation of sexual assault against the former vice president is “inconsistent with the person who I’ve come to know.”

HBO’s Bill Maher welcomed Holder to his show “Real Time” to discuss the allegation hours after Biden denied the claims in an interview on MSNBC. Biden’s interview on “Morning Joe” marked the first time he had addressed Tara Reade’s allegation that he sexually assaulted her when she was a Senate staffer in 1993. She first raised the allegation in March.

“A couple of months ago, an allegation was made against [Biden], a sexual allegation from someone named Tara Reade. I thought it was the chick in ‘Sharknado,’ but it’s a completely different one,” Maher joked in introducing Holder, referencing actress Tara Reid.

“At first, I thought it was ridiculous and it would go away and nobody would pay any attention to it, but it’s being paid attention to,” he added. “I was wondering if you can share your thoughts on that and what he should do and the appropriateness at this moment when we’re in such a crisis in America of having this injected into a campaign at all.”

Holder responded by drawing a comparison to similar allegations made against President Trump.

“The people who are trying to fan this thing are the very people who support Donald Trump and, of course, who say nothing about the allegations that have been raised, I think very credibly, against Trump over a long period of time,” Holder told Maher.

“I mean, all of these allegations have to be taken seriously,” he said. “People who raise them should be treated sensitively.”

Former Obama AG #EricHolder is asked about the #Biden allegations on Real-Time with Bill Maher pic.twitter.com/dEVvZ51GLY

— The Modern Times of Long Beach (@ModernTimesLB) May 2, 2020

The former Obama administration official added later that “what has been described is inconsistent with the person who I’ve come to know and who I’ve worked with.”

“I think the media is doing a correct job looking into the allegations, finding out a variety of things. The vice president has denied that it actually did occur. And as I said, his denial is consistent with the Joe Biden that I know.”

Biden told MSNBC on Friday morning that the allegations unequivocally “never, never happened, and it didn’t. It never happened.”

During his show Friday night, Maher also ribbed the former vice president by presenting a farcical list of “24 things you didn’t know about Joe Biden.” 

“OK, well with the election only six months away, we thought it would be a good time to shed a little light on Joe Biden, upon whom all our hopes are resting,” the progressive Maher said from his backyard as the show continues without a studio audience amid the coronavirus pandemic. 

“And you know, Joe has been running for president for a very long time and has been on the public scene since, well, before anyone can remember,” he continued. “And yet a lot of people don’t know everything about Joe Biden. So we thought it’d be a great day to do 24 things you don’t know about Joe Biden.”  

Included in Maher’s list presented as Biden were “I was asked to social distance even before the virus,” “My defense whenever I suddenly fall asleep is ‘It’s 5 o’clock somewhere” and “About 45 seconds into a sentence, even I’m asking, ‘Where is this going?'”

Maher also used the Biden list to take a shot at Trump.

“You think I’m in cognitive decline? You should see the other guy,” the host said.

Updated: 11 a.m.