The first two days of Joe Biden’s 2020 presidential run have been dominated by his lack of an apology for how he handled Anita Hill’s testimony against Clarence Thomas in 1991. Biden’s stumbles ― his refusal to apologize or, at the very least, offer some genuine introspection ― are somewhat baffling. No issue had been hanging over Biden’s presidential run as much as the Hill episode. He’s consistently refused to admit he had any role in Hill’s shabby treatment before the Senate Judiciary Committee, which he chaired at the time. Yet the issue has continued to come up, showing that many people feel like his answer is inadequate. This issue is not going to go away. And Biden risks letting it define his campaign in the same way that the Iraq War was a problem for former Florida Gov. Jeb Bush, who flamed out after being the front-runner at the start of the GOP presidential primary in 2016. Biden Haunted By Anita Hill Hearing

ASSOCIATED PRESS In 1991, Joe Biden was chairman of the Senate Judiciary Committee.

On Thursday, the day of Biden’s launch, his campaign revealed that the former vice president had called Hill and expressed “his regret for what she endured” when she publicly testified about the sexual harassment she faced from Thomas, who was then under consideration for the Supreme Court. But any positive press Biden may have been hoping to get from this gesture was quickly extinguished when Hill publicly said it was insufficient. The New York Times said Hill “declined to characterize Mr. Biden’s words to her as an apology and said she was not convinced that he has taken full responsibility for his conduct at the hearings — or for the harm he caused other victims of sexual harassment and gender violence.” On Friday, Biden went on ABC’s “The View,” a show with a predominantly female audience, where he was once again asked about Hill. It was his first interview since launching his campaign. Biden again insisted that he bore no responsibility for what happened to her. “I’m sorry she was treated the way she was treated,” Biden said. “I wish we could have figured out a better way to get this thing done. I did everything in my power to do what I thought was within the rules.” Hill, and many others, believe differently. Sure, he wasn’t like the GOP senators who went after her and attacked her credibility. But Hill has made clear that Biden abandoned her, structuring the hearing before the all-white, all-male committee in a way that put her at a disadvantage and left her without an ally. “Joe bent over too far to accommodate the Republicans, who were going to get Thomas on the court come hell or high water,” the late Sen. Howard Metzenbaum (D-Ohio) told Jane Mayer and Jill Abramson for their 1994 book Strange Justice, the most in-depth look at the Thomas proceedings. Biden allowed Thomas to testify both before and after Hill, giving him the first and last words. He also refused to call three other women as witnesses who could have strengthened Hill’s allegations against Thomas. And then there were smaller moments, like allowing Sen. Orrin Hatch (R-Utah) to bring up unsubstantiated conspiracy theories about Hill in an effort to smear her. Biden, however, maintains that he did nothing wrong. “I don’t think I treated her badly,” he said on “The View.” Jeb Bush Struggled On Iraq War

ASSOCIATED PRESS Former Florida Gov. Jeb Bush (R) struggled to come up with a straight answer about whether the Iraq War was a mistake.