Biden disavowed Education Secretary Betsy DeVos’ Title IX rule.
Former Vice President Joe Biden said Wednesday that the Trump administration’s new rule on sexual misconduct in schools aims to “shame and silence survivors,” and vowed to put a “quick end” to it if he becomes the next president.
Biden, the presumptive Democratic nominee, disavowed Education Secretary Betsy DeVos’ Title IX rule, saying it “gives colleges a green light to ignore sexual violence and strip survivors of their rights.”
“Survivors deserve to be treated with dignity and respect, and when they step forward they should be heard, not silenced,” Biden said in a statement. “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.”
Biden has been accused of sexual assault by Tara Reade, a former staffer in his Senate office. Reade claims that Biden, then a U.S. senator from Delaware, assaulted her in a Senate hallway in 1993. Reade also has said she filed a complaint then with Capitol personnel.
Biden last week made his first public statement denying the allegations, and said he was not aware of any complaint filed against him. He also called for a records search for Reade’s complaint, and said it should be released if it exists.
More than 20 women have publicly accused President Donald Trump of sexual misconduct over several decades. Last year, journalist E. Jean Carroll accused Trump of raping her in the 1990s inside a dressing room at a department store. He has denied all the allegations made against him.
“Before Tara Reade’s assault accusations, Biden was unwavering in a presumption of guilt for the accused including Brett Kavanaugh,” said Erin Perrine, the Trump Campaign’s principal deputy communications director, in response to Biden’s statement.
“That presumption of guilt included the disastrous Title IX regulations under the Obama-Biden administration, making it more difficult on college campuses for the accused to receive a fair hearing and their due process rights,” she continued. “Does Joe still stand by his presumption of guilt for the accused—or has he set a new standard for himself in the face of his own sexual assault accusations from a former staffer?”
In his statement on the DeVos rule, Biden touted his moves to combat sexual assault on college campuses during the Obama administration, including the guidance issued to respond to misconduct on campus and the launch of the “It’s On Us” campaign.
“Working with survivors and advocates, we helped to bring this violence out of the shadows and required schools change their practices,” Biden said. “Now, Trump’s Education Department — led by Betsy DeVos — is trying to shame and silence survivors, and take away parents’ peace of mind.”
“It’s wrong,” he continued. “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.”