Sarah Silverman has criticised Kirsten Gillibrand for her public defence of Joe Biden against sexual assault allegations.

Tara Reade, a former Senate aide, alleges that Biden assaulted her in the Nineties. Biden has denied the accusation.

Gillibrand on Tuesday expressed her support for Biden during a call with reporters, stating, according to The Hill: “So when we say believe women, it’s for this explicit intention of making sure there’s space for all women to come forward to speak their truth, to be heard.

“And in this allegation, that is what Tara Reade has done. She has come forward, she has spoken, and they have done an investigation in several outlets. Those investigations, Vice President Biden has called for himself. Vice President Biden has vehemently denied these allegations, and I support Vice President Biden.”

Silverman tweeted a link to a news story about Gillibrand’s response and added: ”But u called on ⁦@alfranken⁩ to resign w/out the ethics investigation HE asked for??”

Gillibrand was one of several Democratic senators to ask for Al Franken’s resignation from the Senate after he was accused of sexual misconduct.

Franken, also a Democrat, disputed the allegations and later told The New Yorker that he regretted resigning without appearing in front of the Senate Ethics Committee.

Gillibrand has said she does not regret her decision to call for Franken’s resignation at the time.