Anita Hill WILL vote for Joe Biden in November despite the ‘mistakes’ he’s made in the past
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Anita Hill has vowed to vote for Joe Biden in the November election, despite the ‘mistakes’ he made while overseeing the confirmation hearing where she testified against then-Supreme Court Justice nominee Clarence Thomas.
‘Notwithstanding all of his limitations in the past, and the mistakes that he made in the past, notwithstanding those — at this point, between Donald Trump and Joe Biden, I think Joe Biden is the person who should be elected in November,’ Hill told CNN in an interview.
‘Its more about the survivors of gender violence. That’s really what it’s about.’
Hill added that her ‘commitment is to finding solutions, and I am more than willing to work with him.’
Anita Hill told CNN that she will vote for Joe Biden (right) in the upcoming November election
In 1991, HiIl sat before an panel of all-male senators and alleged that Clarence sexually harassed her while they worked together at the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission.
Biden served as Senate Judiciary Committee chairman and oversaw the confirmation hearing and testimony,
She claimed that Thomas made inappropriate sexual remarks, including mentions of pornographic movies, and described his genitals on an occasion.
Her testimony was met with an aggressive, abrasive line of questioning from the senators that were sexist and called into question her personal credibility.
Anita Hill (pictured) testified during the 1991 Supreme Court confirmation hearing against then-nominee Clarence Thomas
Clarence Thomas (right), pictured with Joe Biden (left), was accused of sexually harassing Hill while they worked together
In one instance, former GOP Sen. Howell Heflin had asked Hill if she was a ‘scorned woman’ or a ‘zealot civil rights.’
‘Now, in trying to determine whether you are telling falsehoods or not, I have got to determine what your motivation might be. Are you a scorned woman?’ he had asked.
The confirmation hearings gripped the nation and sparked a media-frenzy, but they had an adverse affect on Hill’s aspirations to work atop Capitol Hill.
‘One of the impacts of 1991 was my desire not to really work with the government in any way,’ Hill told CNN.
‘I always said, I think I can be more effective as an outsider, as opposed to an insider. And now, I’m willing to evolve myself, to work for change inside.’
Led by Biden, an all-male panel of Republican senators launched a brutal line of questioning against Hill (pictured)
Hill, who is currently a professor at Brandeis University, even hopes to work with him on issues of gender violence, sexual harassment and gender discrimination.
‘What drives me is the people who have experienced [those issues] and the people who will be experiencing them, if we don’t do something about it,’ she said,
‘That is what has opened me up to do something that I probably would not have said I would do a year ago.’
Biden previously defended his handling of the committee hearing and pushed back against accusations he did not taken Hill’s testimony seriously.
‘I believed her story from the very beginning,’ Biden told CNN in an July interview. ‘I wish I could have protected her more. … I did get in shouting matches, as you’ll remember, with some of the witnesses who were saying things that were off the wall.’
Hill has maintained that Biden lost control of the hearing, allowing his colleagues to devolve into humiliating questions.
Pictured: Thern- US DC Circuit Court of Appeals Judge Clarence Thomas (center ) shakes hands with then-Chairman of the Senate Judiciary Committee Joseph Biden (right) shake hands prior to a confirmation hearing
Biden argued that he did not allow the majority conservative panel to overtake the hearing.
‘I don’t think I did. I wish I could have done it differently under the rules,’ Biden said.
‘But when it ended, I was determined to do two things. One, make sure never again would there not be women on the committee. … And I was determined to continue and finish writing and passing the Violence Against Women Act.’
Biden has since apologized to and the two spoke via phone call shortly before Biden began his presidential campaign in April 2019.
Clarence Thomas (pictured) eventually won the vote and became a Supreme Court Justice
At the time, Hill called their discussion ‘unsatisfying’ and said Biden hadn’t truly taken responsibility for his actions.
‘An apology, to be real and sincere, has to take responsibility for harm,’ Hill told CNN.
‘He didn’t take responsibility. He didn’t hold himself accountable in any way, except that he was sorry that I felt I wasn’t treated fairly. He didn’t take ownership of his own role as chair of the committee.’
That same month, Biden publicly shouldered the blame during an interview with ABC.
‘As the committee chairman, I take responsibility that she did not get treated well. I take responsibility for that,’ he said.
The acknowledgment, according to Hill, showed a level of growth and personal development.
‘There was a statement about ‘I take accountability; I hold myself responsible for the way the hearing was run,’ she said.
‘And so that, I think, is as close as we’ve gotten, you know, and that’s good. That’s an opening.’
Hill: ”I believe that Joe Biden would be that person. I do not believe that Donald Trump would be the person who would hear me…’
And that accountability and push for open dialogue is something she sees in Biden, not Trump.
‘I want the next president to be somebody that I can go to and talk about the real issues that women, men, and non-binary people are experiencing with violence in this country, that’s directed to them because of their gender,’ said Hill.
‘I believe that Joe Biden would be that person. I do not believe that Donald Trump would be the person who would hear me…’
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