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Tag: Joe Biden

  • Woman accuses US presidential hopeful, Joe Biden of sexual assault, campaign office reacts

    Woman accuses US presidential hopeful, Joe Biden of sexual assault, campaign office reacts

    A former aide to presumptive Democratic presidential nominee Joe Biden has in several media interviews accused him of sexually assaulting her nearly 30 years ago when he was a U.S. senator, an assertion that Biden’s campaign has strongly denied.

    Tara Reade, who worked briefly as a staff assistant in Biden’s Senate office from December 1992 to August 1993, told the New York Times, the Washington Post and other news outlets that Biden pinned her against a wall in 1993 and reached under her shirt and her skirt.

    A campaign spokeswoman for Biden, the former vice president, said in a statement on Tuesday that the accusation was false.

    “He firmly believes that women have a right to be heard – and heard respectfully,” the spokeswoman, Kate Bedingfield, said.

    “Such claims should also be diligently reviewed by an independent press. What is clear about this claim: It is untrue. This absolutely did not happen.”

    Reade, 56, was one of eight women who last year came forward to say Biden had hugged, kissed or touched them in ways that made them uncomfortable, though none accused him of sexual assault. She publicly accused him of the assault on a podcast in March.

    At the time of the women’s statements last year about behavior that made them uncomfortable, Biden, who had yet to launch his presidential bid, released a video promising to be “much more mindful” of people’s personal space.

    Biden, 77, is preparing to challenge Republican President Donald Trump, 73, in the Nov. 3 presidential election.

    Trump has faced accusations of sexual assault and misconduct from more than a dozen women. He denies them all.

    However, Reade told reporters she complained about harassment, though not sexual assault, at the time to three of Biden’s Senate aides.

    The Biden campaign released a statement from one, Marianne Baker, who said she never received any report of inappropriate behavior in nearly 20 years of working for Biden.

    The Post and Times interviewed the other two aides, both of whom said they had no recollection of Reade’s complaint.

  • US Presidential poll: Obama endorses former Vice, Joe Biden for White House Job [Video]

    US Presidential poll: Obama endorses former Vice, Joe Biden for White House Job [Video]

    “I’m proud to endorse my friend JoeBiden for President of the United States. Let’s go’, Barack Obama said on Tuesday.

    The former U.S.President and its first African-American, made the much expected endorsement in a video released on Twitter and Instagram.

    In the video, Obama also praised Vermont Senator Bernie Sanders and appeared to suggest that Biden should adopt some of Sanders’ ideas.

    “If there’s one thing we’ve learned as a country from moments of great crisis, it’s that the American spirit of looking out for one another can’t be restricted to our homes, or our workplaces, or our neighbourhoods, or our houses of worship. It also has to be reflected in our national government.

    “The kind of leadership that’s guided by knowledge and experience; honesty and humility; empathy and grace – that kind of leadership doesn’t just belong in our state capitols and mayors offices. It belongs in the White House.

    “That’s why I’m so proud to endorse @JoeBiden for President of the United States.

    “Choosing Joe to be my Vice President was one of the best decisions I ever made.

    “He’s got the character and the experience to guide us through one of our darkest times and heal us through a long recovery.

    “And I’ve got a lot more to say about why Joe should be President in the video. I hope you give it a watch.

    “Then I hope you’ll join us at JoeBiden.com and make a plan for how you’re going to get involved.

  • Joe Biden wins Washington presidential primary

    Joe Biden wins Washington presidential primary

    Former Vice President Joe Biden has won Washington’s presidential primary, further cementing his status as the front-runner for the Democratic presidential nomination.

    As of Monday afternoon, Biden led with nearly 38 per cent of the statewide vote, compared with about 36 per cent for Vermont Sen. Bernie Sanders.

    There was a gap of 23,000 votes. Biden’s lead had expanded since the two rivals ended election night March 10 in a virtual tie.

    The delayed victory – which came amid record turnout for a Washington presidential primary – means Biden won five of the six states that voted March 10.

    In addition to Washington, he won Idaho, Michigan, Mississippi and Missouri. Sanders won North Dakota.

    Washington has 89 pledged delegates to the Democratic National Convention at stake – the second most of any state that voted last week.

    It’s not a winner-take-all system, and the delegate breakdown between Biden and Sanders will depend on results from the state’s 10 congressional districts.

    Will Casey, a spokesman for the state Democratic Party, said the party would know the delegate split once the election is certified next week.

    The Associated Press and New York Times called the race for Biden after 5:00 p.m. local time Monday after a new round of vote counts in King County and elsewhere showed Biden’s lead holding, and the vast majority of ballots counted statewide.

    In a statement, the Biden campaign said, “Washingtonians sent a message to the rest of the country: This is the campaign that will send Donald Trump packing.”

    A month ago, Sanders had been the leading candidate in a crowded field of Democrats competing for the chance to face President Donald Trump this fall.

    The balance of the race shifted after Biden’s dominant victory in the South Carolina primary Feb. 29.

    He followed that with a series of victories Super Tuesday, March 3, including in states Sanders had carried in 2016, such as Michigan and Minnesota – and now Washington.

    “The fact that you have state after state that Sanders won in four years ago, but didn’t win in 2020, just really shows the kind of shift in the Democratic Party post-South Carolina,” said Dean Nielsen, a Seattle-based Democratic political consultant.

    “I think Democrats looked around and decided Biden was more electable than Sanders, and cast their votes accordingly.’’

    About 2.2 million votes had been counted in the March 10 primary as of Monday – or about 48 per cent of the state’s registered voters.

    That set a record for a presidential primary here, beating out the 2000 primary that drew about 43 per cent.

    More than 1.5 million of the votes were cast in the Democratic primary, which had 13 candidates on the ballot, compared with about 670,000 in the Republican primary, which included only Trump.
    Sanders’ case for the nomination has rested in part on the argument he’d bring enthusiastic turnout among younger voters, but turnout nationally and here has not been enough to put him over the top.

    Voters in the Democratic primary did skew substantially younger than among Republicans.
    The median age of Democratic primary voters in King County – home to nearly one-third of voters – was 47, according to data from the Secretary of State’s office. Among Republicans, it was 60.

    There was also a substantial gender gap. About 56 per cent of Democratic voters statewide were women, compared with 49 per cent of those who chose the Republican ballot.

    Biden’s victory came in spite of Sanders’ energetic core of volunteers in the state, many of them loyal since his 2016 presidential bid, when he fell short of the Democratic nomination to former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton.

  • I will pick a woman as Vice President – Biden

    I will pick a woman as Vice President – Biden

    By Dayo Benson Editor Politics,Law/Human Rights New York

    Democratic Presidential Nominee front runner, former Vice President Joe Biden, has promised to select a woman as his running mate, if he wins the Democratic nomination, ahead of the November 2020 Presidential election.

     

    The former Vice President stated this Sunday night, during a televised one on one Democratic Presidential Debate, with his major challenger, Senator Bernie Sanders, in Washington D.C.

     

    The debate came ahead of March 17, 2020, second Big Tuesday, expected to hold in four states, namely; Florida, Arizona, Ohio and Illinois.

     

    “I commit that I will in fact pick a woman to be Vice President. There are a number of women who are qualified too be president ”, Biden said.

     

    The debate which was unique in many ways, held even as United States battles the Coronavirus with stringent measures.

     

    The pandemic, which necessitated President Donald Trump,to declare National Emergency last Friday afternoon, dominated the debate.

     

    Last night’s debate was the 12th in the series of Democratic Presidential Debates, which started late last year with a crowded field of over 20 candidates.

     

    While majority of the candidates dropped out as the race progressed due to their inabilities to raise required funds, three of the last seven standing, however suspended their campaigns and endorsed Biden after the Super Tuesday, which shot Biden into comfortable lead. Three among those who had earlier dropped out also endorsed Biden.

     

    In order to stem the spread of the plague, the debate which was originally scheduled to hold in Arizona, was moved to CNN studio in Washington D.C., without the usual cheeringlive audience.

     

    Biden came to the debate with a commanding lead in terms of delegates after the March 10, 2020, Big Tuesday primaries.

     

    As it was in March 3, 2020, Super Tuesday, which Biden won 10 out of the 14 States, the former Vice President, also won four out of the six states in contention Tuesday last week.

     

    Speaking on their individual approach to combat the Coronavirus pandemic, Biden said America “is at war withthe virus”, adding that the issue was beyond Medicare for all. He stated that everybody should be able to access the test free of charge.

     

    He insisted that what America people “want now is result, not revolution.” He pointed out that China should be sanctioned for downplaying the seriousness of the ravaging virus.

     

    As President, he said, at a time like this, he would call out the military (engineering ) to build more hospitals in order to accommodate those who had contacted the virus and ensure that such people would not lose their paychecks.

     

     

    On immigration, Senator Sanders said undocumented immigrants should not be afraid to come forward for Coronavirus test, which he said his Medicare for all would address. He criticized Immigration and Customs Emergency (ICE) for going after such immigrants at a time like this.

     

    Sanders accused Biden of accepting campaign funds from big corporations that were against revolution.

     

    Biden however defended himself, saying that he had won more delegates despite the fact that Sanders campaign had more money.

     

    Both candidates were unsparing in their criticisms of eachother’s political antecedents, particularly during their years in the Senate.

     

    Biden said he would support and campaign for Sanders if he(Sanders) emerged as the nominee and urged Sanders to commit himself and his supporters to do same. He however lamented that Sander’ attitude was making that difficult for him. Senator Sanders made the commitment, but express optimism that he would win the nomination.

     

    On immigration, Biden said only felons would be deported if “I’m elected President”, adding that the Bill on path to citizenship would be fast tracked. Sanders said “we need a humane border security”, where children would not be separated from their parents. He condemned ICE for terrorizing communities.

     

    Just as in immigration, they both agreed on the need to Institutionalize climate friendly policies that would not destroy the planet but prevent the spread of diseases. They however disagreed on the budgets.

     

    Sanders expressed doubt whether Biden would be able to generate the needed energy and excitement to bring outyoung voters to defeat Trump. The former Vice President however assured that he would live up to expectations, saying that he had been winning big despite his campaign’s paucity of funds.

    At the end of the night, and contrary to expectations in some quarters, the debate further polarize the moderate Democrats which Biden represents, and the progressives which Sanders stands for, rather than unite the party. However, they both agreed that the biggest challenge “is todefeat Trump.”

  • Democratic Presidential Nomination: New York Times snubs Biden, endorse Warren, Klobuchar

    Democratic Presidential Nomination: New York Times snubs Biden, endorse Warren, Klobuchar

    The New York Times on Sunday snubbed Democratic frontrunner Joe Biden and instead endorsed Senators Amy Klobuchar and Elizabeth Warren for the Democratic presidential nomination, its first time choosing two candidates.

    The liberal newspaper’s pick comes just a few weeks before the Iowa caucuses on February 3 which officially begins the presidential primary season.

    The Times described Massachusetts senator Warren as the “radical” and Minnesota senator Klobuchar as the “realist” choice.

    “An essential debate is underway between two visions that may define the future of the (Democratic) party and perhaps the nation,” the editorial board wrote.

    “Some in the party view President Trump as an aberration and believe that a return to a more sensible America is possible. Then there are those who believe that President Trump was the product of political and economic systems so rotten that they must be replaced.”

    “Both the radical and the realist models warrant serious consideration,” the board said. “That’s why we’re endorsing the most effective candidates for each approach. They are Elizabeth Warren and Amy Klobuchar.”

    Warren has consistently polled at third place, behind former vice president Joe Biden and Vermont Senator Bernie Sanders — Warren’s fellow progressive. She surged during the summer but has seen her support slide since October.

    But The Times called her the new “standard-bearer for the Democratic left,” praising her plans for structural and social reform.

    “Ms. Warren’s path to the nomination is challenging, but not hard to envision,” the board said.

    For Klobuchar, who is more moderate, The Times said her “lengthy tenure in the Senate and bipartisan credentials would make her a deal maker (a real one) and uniter for the wings of the party — and perhaps the nation.”

    “May the best woman win,” The Times concluded.

    For the first time, The Times detailed its decision-making process on its television show “The Weekly”.

    The episode shows the editorial board’s interviews with nine leading Democratic presidential hopefuls.

    In addition to Warren and Klobuchar, The Times spoke with Biden, Sanders, billionaire activist Tom Steyer, entrepreneur Andrew Yang, South Bend mayor Pete Buttigieg, former Massachusetts governor Deval Patrick and New Jersey senator Cory Booker, who dropped out of the race in December.

    The interviews were conducted on the record. In addition to showing video clips of the interviews in the “Weekly” episode, the Times Opinion section also published interview transcripts.