Former Vice President Joe Biden

If you had asked me a couple of weeks ago what I thought of the Democratic Primary I would’ve begrudgingly said this:

“I believe the future of our country (and world) is at risk with either Donald Trump or Joe Biden as President. That being said I am ready to vote for anyone against Trump in November.”

If you ask me that question now my answer would be this:

“I vote based on my values, one of those values is never voting for rapists, as such I will not be voting for Donald Trump or Joe Biden in November.”

I know this was and is my answer because I have given them now far too many times. Before we go any further let me make some things clear: I voted for Senator Sanders in the Michigan Primary, but I originally supported Secretary Julián Castro. It is also worth noting I am a survivor of sexual assault (more can be found here.

So what has changed? For many of us the entire world, COVID-19 has taken center stage and threatened our ways of life, while also taking the lives of so many we hold close. It has effectively postponed the primary and the nomination and for some possibly made the political squabbles between Senator Sanders and Former Vice President Biden seem unimportant or meaningless. This is not a story about policy though, this is not an endorsement for Senator Sanders. This is about speaking up for what is right, this is about calling out bullshit for what it is, this is about believing women, and this is about believing survivors.

On March 25th Katie Halper released audio from an interview with Tara Reade, an excerpt can be found here. This audio allowed Tara Reade the chance to share her story of being sexually assaulted by then-Senator Joe Biden. Her story was and still is painful to hear, it is similar to many of the stories we have heard from survivors. I avoided the audio for days knowing my own relationship to assault could put me at risk after listening, however, I eventually listened. When I had finished I felt this painful gnawing, only days before I had talked with friends about how we would vote for Biden in November. I had jokingly and without care considered voting for this man who utilized power and privilege to assault a woman. But I had only just found all this out, I couldn’t be angry with myself because this was only now coming to light…except it wasn’t.

Joe Biden’s history is wrought with mistreatment of women, commentators have even devised a clever way of describing his behavior: “tactile politics”. Which is a cutesy way of saying he touches people, with or without their consent. It only took a few minutes of searching to find numerous accounts of women speaking out about mistreatment and discomfort caused by Biden’s behavior. For example Lucy Flores, or this list compiled by the NY Times. Tara Reade had even come forward earlier in defense of Flores, although she had not given the full account as she did with Halper. Biden himself acknowledged these issues prior to his campaign’s launch and early in his run.

There is also Joe Biden’s history with the Anita Hill and Clarence Thomas hearings. Once again a topic Biden himself addressed, although in a sorry-not-sorry fashion. To quickly recap, Hill accused then-Supreme Court nominee, Clarence Thomas, of sexual harassment. Biden, who led the Judiciary Committee, barred additional witnesses and allowed his colleagues to hurl attacks and vitriol at Hill. Behavior that in many ways set the basis for the treatment of Dr. Blasey-Ford in 2018.

The disgust I was feeling at myself was over the fact I knew all of this. I read these articles and the others like them months ago. Yet, I had been willing to abandon my values and possibly cast a vote for him. I had bought into the narrative that we must beat Donald Trump, a president that is also a rapist. I was hurting because I had abandoned fellow survivors for political convenience. This was a decision I would not make again. I listened to the recording again, Reade’s account making my heart ache even more and knew that I made a mistake earlier but I would not make one again. I will stand on my values and not cast a vote for a rapist: no matter the party-affiliation, the policies, the leadership capabilities, or the possibility of another term for President Donald Trump.

Surely I was not the only one who believed this. There had to be others who listened and were similarly upset. I found there are, however, they are not the folks who I had hoped. It is reported that Time’s Up declined to support Reade, choosing the political convenience of staying close to Biden. Reade stated she also reached out to Senators Warren and Harris, neither offices were willing to support her allegations. Senator Harris and Senator Klobuchar, both of whom received high praise for their prosecution of Brett Kavanaugh in 2018 continued to endorse Joe Biden. Supporters of Joe Biden have spread disinformation along with anecdotes about Reade in an attempt to discredit and vilify her.

All of these responses was eerily similar to the conservative reaction to Dr. Blasey-Ford’s allegations against Brett Kavanaugh in 2018. Where conservative media and pundits attacked her credibility and tore apart her story. She was similarly accused of being a political operative. Through it, the rallying cry of mainstream liberals and top Democrats was to believe survivors and believe women. As stated above, two Senators utilized the hearings to jump-start Presidential ambitions. We know the ending, Brett Kavanaugh was still nominated and voted in, putting two rapists in on our Supreme Court. Democrats rightfully called Dr. Blasey-Ford a hero and demanded we do better in the future, demanded we never stop fighting to uplift the voices of women and survivors. Now, those same folks are on the cusp of nominating a rapist to be President.

It is deeply unsettling that so many have chosen political convenience over the voices of women and survivors. It is even more unsettling given that now more than ever we must be ready and willing to support survivors. Since the onset of shelter-in-place orders and self-isolation domestic violence reports have skyrocketed, a reminder that abuses of power take place always and places we consider safe (home or a senator’s office) are still areas where predators thrive. How are we as a country able to tell survivors to come forward in the grips of a pandemic and assure them their voices will be heard when we potentially set up an election between two rapists? We can’t. It is bullshit, it is bullshit just like the Democratic establishment going scorch earth on a political enemy accused of sexual assault and then remaining mum about a political ally accused of sexual assault.

There is a solution to this. There is a way to right this. It begins by un-endorsing and denouncing Joe Biden, it begins by setting a precedent that you do not stand for nor do we support rapists. It begins by actually stepping into the responsibility the statement “Believe All Women, Believe All Survivors” requires us to do. Will that be easy? No. Is it necessary? Absolutely.

There are alternatives to a Biden vs. Trump election, with the postponement of numerous state primaries and the convention these alternatives are even more plausible. I said earlier this is not an endorsement for a candidate, however, one alternative is to choose Senator Sanders to be the nominee. He is not the only option, in fact, the Democratic establishment by forcing Joe Biden to exit the race could instead put forth another individual to be their nominee. They have a list of highly qualified individuals already available from the Biden campaign, who intend to have a woman as VP. Will they do this? It seems unlikely.

Regardless of the Democratic Party’s decision, you can make a decision. To truly believe women and believe survivors requires us to cast aside political convenience and comfort, it requires us to stand up to these abusers no matter their affiliation. I have made my decision, I am willing to accept the responsibility and uplift the voices of women and survivors, are you?