Biden hires left-wing commentator who once said sexual offenders should be banned from running for office
The Biden campaign has hired left-wing commentator Karine Jean-Pierre as a senior adviser. Jean-Pierre, interestingly, had asserted merely three years ago that sexual misconduct allegations were enough to disqualify candidates from running for office.
It is well known that Biden currently faces allegations of sexual assault, albeit he has denied them outright. Coupled with some previously reported incidents of inappropriate touching, the allegations have led to some rather uncomfortable moments for Biden's defenders, many of whom have been confronted with their past commentary during Supreme Court Associate Justice Brett Kavanaugh's confirmation fight in 2018.
In December 2017, CNN's Jake Tapper asked Jean-Pierre if the #MeToo movement had gone too far.
“I think we're at a point in time in this country where the '#MeToo' movement has really gotten some traction, we’re finally listening to victims, whether they’re women or men," she said at the time. "And I think if you’re running for office, you can’t have been accused of sexual harassment or assault. And I think that we really have to take that next step here and make sure that doesn't happen with anyone in office or out of office."
Jean-Pierre branded President Trump as "very misogynistic" while responding to the case of Andrea Ramsey, whom Tapper brought up as a former Kansas Congressional candidate who dropped out of the race "after news emerged that there was a 2005 lawsuit in which a man accused her of sexual harassment." Ramsey, at the time, had denied the claim, saying that "in its rush to claim the high ground in a roiling national conversation about harassment, the Democratic Party has implemented a zero-tolerance standard."
That said, Jean-Pierre's statements to the CNN anchor have matched her previous stance on #MeToo. For example, in April 2018, she tweeted simply, "Believe Women." Then, in September that year, she commented on Christine Blasey Ford's accusation against Kavanaugh.
"It’s incredibly difficult to come forward with stories of attacks and violence, especially in such a public," she wrote at the time. "We need to support and believe women."
Later on, she also added that Kavanaugh's accusers "have nothing to gain and everything to lose."
"These white males are not victims: Donald Trump was accused of sexual assault and became President of the United States. Brett Kavanaugh was accused of sexual assault and became a US Supreme Court Justice," she wrote in October 2018.
Nonetheless, she now works for Joe Biden.
A number of Biden staffers have changed their tune about "believing all women" after having fervently rallied for the cause during the Kavanaugh saga. One of the outspoken commentators was Symone Sanders.
Sanders is seen in recently resurfaced videos arguing that "it doesn't matter" that there was no evidence to support Ford's allegations against Kavanaugh.
"I believe Christine Ford because, to come forward, she has no — um, there are no enticements to come forward and have her life destroyed... There's no incentive for her to come forward except to tell the truth and do her due diligence," she previously said. This year, however, Sanders has said women deserve to have their claims "looked into" but not necessarily believed, despite lacking "enticements" to come forward, Fox News reported.
Former Vice President Joe Biden has been accused by former Senate Staffer Tara Reade of sexually assaulting her in 1993. Her lawyer has now asked Biden to allow a probe into his Senate files that are currently housed at the University of Delaware.