House Speaker Nancy Pelosi said Thursday she doesn’t want a “lecture” when it comes to the Democratic Party’s shifting standards on sexual misconduct accusations.
The California Democrat snapped at a reporter for asking why a #MeToo-inspired call for investigations into Supreme Court Justice Brett M. Kavanaugh’s nomination process is missing when it comes to former Vice President Joseph R. Biden.
Mrs. Pelosi was asked why college professor Christine Blasey Ford’s uncorroborated claims against Mr. Kavanaugh demanded intense scrutiny while Tara Reade, Mr. Biden’s former Senate aide, appears to be categorically dismissed over her story pertaining to 1993.
“How do Democrats square with the idea that they are essentially standing by Biden but using a comparatively different standard with Kavanaugh?” the reporter asked Mrs. Pelosi. “They demanded an investigation on Mr. Kavanaugh when a very similar allegation came out toward him.”
“Let me just say — I respect your question and I do not need a lecture or a speech,” she shot back. “I have complete respect for the whole #MeToo movement. I have four daughters and one son, and there is a lot of excitement around the idea that women will be heard and be listened to. There is also due process, and the fact that Joe Biden is Joe Biden.”
Mrs. Pelosi also addressed the matter on CNN’s “New Day” with host Alisyn Camerota.
“It’s a matter that he has to deal with,” Mrs. Pelosi said. “I am impressed with the people who worked for him at the time saying they’d absolutely never heard one iota of information about this. Nobody ever brought forth a claim or had anybody else tell them about such a claim.”
• Douglas Ernst can be reached at dernst@washingtontimes.com.
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