Anita Hill on whether she could vote for Joe Biden: "Of course I could"
Anita Hill, the law professor who accused Supreme Court Justice Clarence Thomas of sexual harassment during his 1991 confirmation hearing, said Joe Biden's overseeing of the hearing does not "disqualify" him for the presidency.
Asked if she would consider voting for him, Hill replied during a Thursday interview with NBC News' Andrea Mitchell, "Of course I could."
In 1991, Hill faced an all-male Senate Judiciary Committee chaired by Biden and aggressive questioning from senators such as Republican Arlen Specter. Although Biden voted against Thomas' confirmation, the lawmakers' treatment of Hill has long been the subject of controversy.
"If the Senate Judiciary Committee, led then by Mr. Biden, had done its job and held a hearing that showed that its members understood the seriousness of sexual harassment and other forms of sexual violence, the cultural shift we saw in 2017 after #MeToo might have began in 1991 - with the support of the government," Hill wrote in an op-ed for The New York Times last month.
Hill also told Mitchell she has spoken with Christine Blasey Ford, who accused Supreme Court Justice Brett Kavanaugh of sexual assault during his confirmation hearing last year.
After he announced his third presidential campaign earlier this spring, Biden contacted Hill and expressed "his regret for what [Hill] endured," according to The New York Times.
On the campaign trail, CBS News reported there are mixed feelings as to whether Biden's role in the hearing is still relevant, with many older voters saying it is time to move on.