by Mary Margaret Olohan
Democratic House Speaker Nancy Pelosi supported and praised Supreme Court Justice Brett Kavanaugh’s accuser Christine Blasey Ford, but has maintained silence on 2020 presidential candidate Joe Biden’s accuser Tara Reade.
Ford leveled accusations of sexual assault against Kavanaugh in September 2018, launching a media onslaught and a series of congressional hearings into the allegations against the now-Supreme Court justice. Throughout these events, Pelosi expressed support for Ford.
“It took great courage for Dr. Christine Blasey Ford to come forward with her story,” Pelosi tweeted in September, 2018. “The American people are owed a thorough investigation of the grave & credible allegations against Brett Kavanaugh.”
It took great courage for Dr. Christine Blasey Ford to come forward with her story. The American people are owed a thorough investigation of the grave & credible allegations against Brett Kavanaugh. RETWEET if you agree Senate Republicans must #PostponeTheVote
— Nancy Pelosi (@SpeakerPelosi) September 18, 2018
The Democratic House speaker tweeted a short time later: “We must #BelieveSurvivors. I’m proud to stand with my Democratic colleagues in support of Dr. Christine Blasey Ford.”
We must #BelieveSurvivors. I’m proud to stand with my Democratic colleagues in support of Dr. Christine Blasey Ford. pic.twitter.com/brXUZev23i
— Nancy Pelosi (@SpeakerPelosi) September 26, 2018
“This morning, I took time to watch Christine Blasey Ford’s deeply moving opening statement. Thank you for your bravery, Dr. Ford,” Pelosi tweeted on September 27, 2018, accompanied by a picture of her watching Ford’s emotional testimony before Congress.
This morning, I took time to watch Christine Blasey Ford’s deeply moving opening statement. Thank you for your bravery, Dr. Ford. #BelieveSurvivors #KavanaughHearings pic.twitter.com/3IzD4TsVCU
— Nancy Pelosi (@SpeakerPelosi) September 27, 2018
Pelosi also expressed opposition to Kavanaugh before Ford’s accusations became public, saying that Kavanaugh was likely to prevent abortion access and must not become a Supreme Court justice.
“Brett Kavanaugh has proven he cannot be trusted to defend a woman’s right to choose. We must stand united against him & the ongoing Trump assault on women’s health care,” Pelosi tweeted July 10, 2018.
Brett Kavanaugh has proven he cannot be trusted to defend a woman’s right to choose. We must stand united against him & the ongoing Trump assault on women’s health care. #StopKavanaugh #WhatsAtStake
— Nancy Pelosi (@SpeakerPelosi) July 10, 2018
She tweeted on July 17, 2018: “A vote to confirm Brett Kavanaugh is a vote to deny millions of American women the pre-existing condition protections they deserve.”
A vote to confirm Brett Kavanaugh is a vote to deny millions of American women the pre-existing condition protections they deserve. RT if you think that’s unacceptable.
— Nancy Pelosi (@SpeakerPelosi) July 17, 2018
The Democratic House speaker has not discussed Reade’s allegations against Biden, and endorsed Biden’s presidential bid Monday.
She has not responded to multiple requests for comment from the Daily Caller News Foundation regarding Reade’s allegations. The former Biden Senate staffer accused the former vice president of kissing her, touching her and penetrating her with his fingers without her consent when she worked for him in 1993.
The Biden campaign, which has not responded to many requests for comment from the DCNF, has denied the assault and said it “absolutely did not happen.”
56-year-old Reade told the DCNF in a Friday interview that her sexual assault accusations have become a “partisan tool,” saying that Republicans have weaponized her and Democrats have both ignored and discredited her.
“It’s inexcusable,” she told the DCNF. “I’m sorry that I’m politically inconvenient, but my perpetrator was Joe Biden. And people need to deal with it.”
She criticized Democratic silence on her allegations, saying that though she is a third-generation Democrat with a suffragette grandmother and a Democratic activist mother committed to fighting racism, she never wishes to be a part of the Democratic Party again.
“I’m not voting in a national election,” Reade added. “There is no democracy for me. I think, in my case, that democracy died in that corridor in 1993.”
Reade does understand that Biden is a pro-abortion candidate facing President Donald Trump in the upcoming 2020 election — and that many of those who have maintained silence around her accusations are anxious to preserve abortion access in the United States.
But she said that Biden has a “pretty sketchy history on reproductive rights,” pointing to the former vice president’s flip-flops on abortion stances throughout his political career. If the Democratic Party marginalizes her or discredits her, she said, this “lessens the credibility for women to come forward.”
“I’m strongly pro-choice,” she said. “I have no problem saying that. But what I would say is that sexual assault and sexual harassment are equally as important.”
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Mary Margaret Olohan is a reporter at Daily Caller News Foundation.
Photo “Speaker Nancy Pelosi Watching Ford Testimony” by Speaker Nancy Pelosi.
