Ocasio-Cortez: Biden allegation ‘not clear cut’

Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (D-N.Y.) addressed the sexual assault allegation faced by former Vice President Joe Biden (D) during an interview with NPR on Thursday, explaining that it was not a “clear cut” situation for Democrats.

Questioned on what she wanted to see happen in response to Tara Reade’s allegation of a 1993 assault, which Biden has publicly denied, the New York lawmaker noted that Reade herself had not called on Democrats to abandon their support of the presumptive Democratic presidential nominee.

“It’s very difficult because this is a hyper-politicized zone, right? Instead of focusing on her account, instead of focusing on her story as a survivor, people are fast-forwarding to the political implications. ‘Do you want Trump to win? Will you be voting for Joe Biden?’ And that denies justice in this situation,” Ocasio-Cortez said.

“I think a lot of what we can look for is, look at the aims that the survivor is asking for. And while a lot of folks, again, are trying to jump to the political implications, she has never explicitly said, ‘don’t vote for Joe Biden,'” Ocasio-Cortez said. “She hasn’t explicitly said anything in terms of a political remedy that she wants. If anything, it sounds like she simply wants to be heard.”

Ocasio-Cortez, who endorsed Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-Vt.) for president, went on to confirm in the interview that she would be voting for Biden in November’s election but had not yet issued a formal endorsement.

“I think, to me, an endorsement means, you know, we have come to a place where we’ve developed a vision together not just in November, but how we’re going to govern after,” she said, adding that she wanted Biden’s campaign to reflect the values of younger Americans and Latinos.