Democratic presidential candidate and former Vice President Joseph R. Biden on Friday recalled advising Hillary Clinton’s campaign in 2016 about how to handle questions involving the now-infamous “Access Hollywood” tape when it surfaced during the final weeks of her failed White House bid.
Released roughly a month prior to President Trump defeating Mrs. Clinton in the race, the tape — a 2005 recording from the TV show “Access Hollywood” in which he bragged about how he could, as a celebrity, grab women by their genitals — emerged days before both candidates participated in the second of three televised presidential debates.
“I remember at the time saying, you know, the first question that’s going to be asked is they’re going to ask [Trump] about his comments about the Access Hollywood tape,” Mr. Biden recalled during a campaign event in New Castle, New Hampshire, BuzzFeed News reported.
“And I said, I really think what should be done is — that they’re going to turn to [Clinton] and say, ’What’s your view?’ And I said, I’d respectfully recommend she stand there and … say, ’Everybody knows who Donald Trump is. Let me tell you what I am going to do for the country,’ and not get into the debate, because it just drags it down,” added Mr. Biden, according to BuzzFeed.
Brian Fallon, a Democratic activist who worked on Mrs. Clinton’s campaign, raised questions about Mr. Biden’s remarks, BuzzFeed reported.
“Is he suggesting Hillary’s reaction to the Access Hollywood tape should have been, ’Oh, nevermind?’” asked Mr. Fallon, according to the outlet. “That is a pretty Mad Men-era mentality.”
An aide for Mr. Biden subsequently issued a statement clarifying the candidate’s comments, BuzzFeed News reported.
“He wasn’t criticizing Hillary,” the Biden aide said, according to the outlet. “He was criticizing the media for creating false equivalencies that minimized Trump’s atrocious and repugnant behavior.”
Mrs. Clinton and Mr. Trump were both asked about the “Access Hollywood” tape early on during the second debate days after its release.
“I think it’s clear to anyone who heard it that it represents exactly who he is,” said Mrs. Clinton. “We have seen him insult women. We’ve seen him rate women on their appearance, ranking them from one to ten. We’ve seen him embarrass women on TV and on Twitter. We saw him after the first debate spend nearly a week denigrating a former Miss Universe in the harshest, most personal terms. So yes, this is who Donald Trump is.”
Mr. Trump, on his part, apologized during the debate for the remarks while dismissing his comments as “locker room talk.”
Recently polling has placed Mr. Biden as the Democratic frontrunner among candidates hoping to compete against Mr. Trump in 2020. He served as a surrogate to Mrs. Clinton’s campaign in 2016 while serving as vice president to former President Barack Obama.
• Andrew Blake can be reached at ablake@washingtontimes.com.
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