Democratic Rep. Ilhan Omar of Minnesota said over the weekend that she believed Tara Reade’s accusation of sexual assault against former Vice President Joe Biden, but said she plans to vote for the presumptive presidential nominee in November anyway.
Reade accused Biden of sexually assaulting her in 1993 when Biden was in the Senate and Reade was a staffer. Biden has denied the accusation, and Democrats like Omar have been attempting to balance their support for Biden with the desire to believe women who come forward with accusations of sexual assault.
“I do believe Reade. Justice can be delayed, but should never be denied,” Omar said.
Reade has said she wishes Biden would drop out of the presidential race because of the alleged assault, but doesn’t expect him to do so.
Biden said earlier this month “I wouldn’t vote for me if I believed Tara Reade.”
“Believing survivors is consistent with my values,” Omar wrote Monday in a tweet elaborating on the comment. “Yes, I endorsed against Biden and I didn’t pick him as our nominee. With that said, in this interview I did on May 6th, we talked about that and quotes aren’t always in context. I will vote for him and help him defeat Trump.”
Omar endorsed Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-Vt.) in the Democratic presidential primary.
Believing survivors is consistent with my values. Yes, I endorsed against Biden and I didn’t pick him as our nominee. With that said, in this interview I did on May 6th, we talked about that and quotes aren’t always in context. I will vote for him and help him defeat Trump.
— Ilhan Omar (@IlhanMN) May 25, 2020
In 2019, Omar called for an impeachment inquiry against Supreme Court Justice Brett Kavanaugh because of sexual assault allegations against him by Christine Blasey Ford and others. She called it a “constitutional duty.”
In Biden’s case, however, many Democrats are prioritizing beating President Donald Trump over holding Biden as accountable as they did Kavanaugh for the allegation against him.
Nothing terrifies this corrupt president more than the idea of Congress upholding the rule of law.
We must open impeachment inquiries against Trump *and* Kavanaugh immediately. It’s our constitutional duty. https://t.co/OVjBDWSqZT
— Ilhan Omar (@IlhanMN) September 15, 2019
In March, she referred to Kavanaugh as an “accused sexual predator” and said he should not have any say on the issue of abortion because he had been accused of sexual assault.
Two accused sexual predators should not be deciding whether or not women have access to healthcare in this country. https://t.co/okJE85pwoN
— Rep. Ilhan Omar (@Ilhan) March 4, 2020
Update: This story has been updated to show Omar’s call for an impeachment inquiry was in 2019.
Author: Aaron Colen
Source: The Blaze: Rep. Ilhan Omar believes Joe Biden sexually assaulted Tara Reade, but will vote for him anyway
