South Carolina Sen. Lindsey Graham offered a robust defense of former Vice President Joe Biden, telling Fox News he was skeptical of the sexual assault allegations leveled against him by a former Senate staffer.
“The Joe Biden I know, I’ve never seen anything [or] believed that he would do anything like this until you convince me otherwise,” Graham told host Sean Hannity Friday evening.
Graham, who served with Biden for five years in the Senate before the elder Democrat was elected vice president, said his former colleague should nevertheless release his archives kept at the University of Delaware to dispel any lingering doubts.
The former vice president and presumptive 2020 Democratic nominee has faced growing questions about allegations from Tara Reade, a former staffer, that Biden sexually assaulted her back in 1993.
On Friday, Biden appeared for an 18-minute grilling on “Morning Joe,” where he strenuously denied the allegation.
“It is not true. I am saying unequivocally it never, never happened, and it didn’t. It never happened,” Biden told host Mika Brzezinski. “I don’t remember any type of complaint she may have made. It was 27 years ago, and I don’t remember, nor does anyone else that I’m aware of, and the fact is that I don’t remember. I don’t remember any complaint ever having been made.”
Republicans have cried foul, saying Biden and other Democrats now defending him were quick to pounce on Dr. Christine Blasey Ford’s sexual misconduct allegations against then-Supreme Court nominee Brett Kavanaugh.