Presumptive Democratic presidential nominee Joe Biden said Wednesday that if he is elected, he will reverse a new rule by Education Secretary Betsy DeVos that he says will silence sexual assault survivors.
The Title IX rule issued Wednesday by Ms. DeVos narrows the definition of sexual misconduct on college campuses and expands protections for those accused of campus sexual harassment and assault, including allowing those accused to cross-examine their accusers through an adviser.
Ms. DeVos said the rule will give due process to the accused, but opponents say it will discourage victims from coming forward.
Mr. Biden, who is facing a sexual assault allegation of his own, said in a statement that the Trump administration is trying to “shame and silence” survivors.
“Survivors deserve to be treated with dignity and respect, and when they step forward they should be heard, not silenced,” the former vice president said. “Today, Betsy DeVos and Donald Trump published a rule that flies in the face of that belief and guarantees that college campuses will be less safe for our nation’s young people.
“Simply put: this new rule gives colleges a green light to ignore sexual violence and strip survivors of their rights,” he continued. “It lets colleges off the hook for protecting students, by permitting them to choose to investigate only more extreme acts of violence and harassment and requiring them to investigate in a way that dissuades survivors from coming forward.”
“It’s wrong,” he added. “And, it will be put to a quick end in January 2021, because as President, I’ll be right where I always have been throughout my career — on the side of survivors, who deserve to have their voices heard, their claims taken seriously and investigated, and their rights upheld.”
The Trump campaign responded by highlighting the sexual assault allegation against Mr. Biden, saying the presumptive nominee isn’t holding himself to the same standard he advocates.
“Biden should cut the malarkey and provide an honest answer to Americans: why shouldn’t he be held to the same standards he spent years imposing on everyone else?” said Trump campaign spokesman Andrew Clark, playing off of Mr. Biden’s “No Malarkey” campaign slogan.
Mr. Biden is accused by Tara Reade, a former Senate staffer, of pinning her against a wall and digitally penetrating her without her consent in his Senate office in 1993. At least six people have corroborated parts of Ms. Reade’s story since she spoke out on March 25.
Mr. Biden vehemently denied the claim Friday.
“It is not true. I’m saying it unequivocally — it never happened. It didn’t. It never happened,” he said.
The Trump campaign pointed out that Mr. Biden was a vocal opponent of the Supreme Court confirmation of Justice Brett Kavanaugh, when he said in 2018 that “you’ve got to start off with the presumption that at least the essence of what she’s talking about is real,” referring to the sexual assault allegation by Christine Blasey Ford.
“The woman should be given the benefit of the doubt,” Mr. Biden also stated at the time, despite Ms. Ford having fewer contemporaneous accounts to corroborate her story than Ms. Reade.
• Jessica Chasmar can be reached at jchasmar@washingtontimes.com.
Please read our comment policy before commenting.