During a live interview with former Vice President Joe Biden on Friday’s Today show, co-host Craig Melvin invited the former Judiciary Committee Chairman to advise the Senate on how to handle a potential hearing with Brett Kavanaugh’s accuser, Christine Blasey Ford. In his response, Biden was given free rein to blast Republicans for trying to “character assassinate” Clarence Thomas accuser Anita Hill and even compared the claims against Kavanaugh to a graphic movie rape scene.

“How would you suggest that the Senate handle these allegations?,” Melvin asked as the softball exchange began. Biden demanded an FBI investigation and then recalled the Senate hearing he lead examining Hill’s sexual harassment claims against Thomas during the 1991 Supreme Court confirmation battle: “Anita Hill was vilified when she came forward by a lot of my colleagues, character assassination. I wish I could have done more to prevent those questions and the way they asked them. I hope my colleagues learn from that...”

Noting criticism of Biden’s handling of that hearing 27 years earlier, Melvin followed up: “You were chairman of the Judiciary Committee back in 1991. You were roundly criticized for not doing more during that hearing. Looking back on that, specifically, how would you advise senators to proceed next week?”

Biden insisted that “the woman should be given the benefit of the doubt and not be, you know, abused again by the system,” and lamented that he didn’t “shut off” senators who aggressively questioned Hill. “And so what happened was, she got victimized again during the process,” he proclaimed.

The former Vice President also revealed that his mind was made up about Thomas’s guilt before the hearing even began: “And I believed her when she came forward, I encouraged her to come forward, we were in a position where we got the FBI to do an investigation, and I voted against Clarence Thomas.”

Moments later, Melvin observed: “It seems like you get it now, versus back in ’91?” Biden argued: “Well, I think I got it in ’91....it’s important that people understand, and I think people do now, understand how hard it is to come forward.” The Democrat then made this eyebrow-raising comparison: “And I always say to men, they say why is it so hard? How about if you had been abused? You see the movie Deliverance, how about if you were the guy strapped to the tree, would you come forward? Would you want to relive that?”

Melvin’s facial expression clearly showed he was taken aback by the reference to an explicit gay rape scene featured in the 1972 film. Biden insisted: “I’m serious, I’m deadly earnest.” Rather than push back on the extreme comment, Melvin simply moved on to wonder about Biden’s 2020 presidential ambitions.

Wrapping up the friendly exchange minutes later, Melvin returned to the topic of Kavanaugh: “If there is no FBI investigation, should the Senate proceed as usual and should there be a vote if she doesn’t testify?” Biden predictably replied: “Look, I don’t think there should be. I just think, what the devil have we learned here?” He then declared that Ford “should not have to go through what Anita Hill went through and some of the questions that she got asked and the way the right went after her on national television and questioned her integrity and questioned her, not just her honesty, questioned her behavior.”

Melvin never bothered to question the credibility of Hill’s claims against Thomas, nor mention the fact that the FBI investigation of the allegations came back inconclusive.

Here are excerpts of the lengthy September 21 interview that dealt with Kavanaugh: