As he moves toward formally entering the Democratic presidential race, Joe Biden has repeatedly expressed regret for how he handled Anita Hill’s sexual harassment allegations against Clarence Thomas. But he has not put the decades-old issue to rest.
As he moves toward formally entering the Democratic presidential race, Joe Biden has repeatedly expressed regret for how he handled one of the most consequential challenges of his career in the Senate — the 1991 hearings into Anita Hill’s sexual harassment allegations against Supreme Court nominee Clarence Thomas.
Anita Hill is sworn in by Sen. Joe Biden to testify before the Senate Judiciary Committee on the confirmation of Clarence Thomas to the Supreme Court in 1991. The hearings turned a spotlight on that glaring lack of diversity. The image of a young black woman sitting alone behind a witness table, telling an all-male Senate Judiciary Committee a lurid tale was televised across the country and the world. Never before had sexual harassment been discussed so explicitly on Capitol Hill.
Biden did not deem the allegations important enough to postpone the committee’s scheduled vote on Thomas’s nomination. When he announced his opposition to Thomas in a floor speech he said, “My view on this matter has nothing to do with Judge Thomas’ character. For he is a man of character.” With Democrats doing little to defend Hill, Republicans grilled her, challenging her credibility and motives, even suggesting she made up the charges.
Biden did, however, have the authority to call other women to testify to corroborate Hill’s account, but he did not. One woman, Angela Wright, was prepared to testify that she, too, had been harassed by Thomas. Members of both parties were wary of calling Wright to testify, Hogan said. A written statement from her was submitted instead. But it landed in the wee hours of the morning and got little attention.
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