Editorial: Biden has responsibility to address sex-assault claims

In 2018, then private citizen and former Vice President Joe Biden offered the following prescription for responding to women who accuse men of sexual assault even after many years of silence: "For a woman to come forward in the glaring lights of focus, nationally, you've got to start off with the presumption that at least the essence of what she's talking about is real, whether or not she forgets facts, whether or not it's been made worse or better over time."

Now, Biden has a perfect opportunity to explain what he meant by that and, in the process, provide leadership on dealing with the inherent conflict in such situations between the respect for victims and the rights of the accused. So far, he has not done well. Reportedly, he will appear on MSNBC's "Morning Joe" program today to try to change that. His performance will have importance far beyond merely his political fortunes.

Biden's 2018 remark came in response to claims of sexual misconduct Christine Blasey Ford brought against then-nominee to the Supreme Court Brett Kavanaugh. In late March, a former Biden staffer named Tara Reade told an interviewer that she had been pressed against a wall, kissed and fondled in 1993 by then-Sen. Biden.

That the presumptive Democratic presidential nominee can remain essentially silent on Reade's willingness to endure those "glaring lights of focus" threatens to disrupt fragile but important progress made during the #MeToo era toward encouraging victims of sexual misconduct to tell their stories, lending credence to arguments that such encouragement is not so much sincere as politically useful.

Reade first described the encounter in detail publicly in a podcast interview last March 25. Slowly, but until now, the most we've heard from Biden is the insistence earlier this month by his communications director that "this absolutely did not happen."

Perhaps not. But, however forcefully expressed, an unspecific denial from a public figure's employee regarding accusations of serious misconduct is hardly the message the #MeToo movement has sounded in recent years. Just as important, it is deeply inadequate from a person who portrays himself as an adherent, if not a spokesman, for that movement as he campaigns for the nation's highest office.

In an interview with the Washington Examiner this week, Reade pleaded for her story not to become "politicized." That hope is at best a naive wish as a presidential campaign heats up in an already-toxic political environment. But it is the central issue that Biden and those who stand with him must confront openly.

Those who would advocate for and seek to lead the discussion cannot be selective in determining which accusers they will engage and which they will ignore. Indeed, blithely dismissing inconvenient claims is precisely what raises them to political, rather than purely societal, issues.

To be sure, there are many factors open to question about Reade's story, but similar factors exist in nearly every such case. They must be considered in the full evaluation of any complaint. But we have also seen in countless recent examples the importance of respecting the "essence" of accusers' claims and of creating an environment in which victims of sexual assault feel safe telling their stories.

Biden has been among the leaders in moving toward that environment. Now, he and leaders who share his goals have an opportunity and a responsibility to demonstrate the candor and sensitivity needed to nourish it.