Joe Biden Problems - Part 1

Call Your Girlfriend

Ann Friedman and Aminatou Sow

Society & Culture

4.7 • 4.2K Ratings

🗓️ 15 May 2020

⏱️ 34 minutes

🔗️ Recording | iTunes | RSS

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Summary

Throughout public life, Joe Biden has claimed to stand for women. His long career from the Senate to the Vice Presidency to presumptive Democratic nominee can paint a very different picture. In the first of two episodes, we discuss key moments that give us pause about Joseph Robinette Biden, Jr.

1991: Biden mishandles Anita Hill's testimony during Clarence Thomas's confirmation hearings as chair of the Senate Judiciary committee.

1994: Biden uses the Violence Against Women Act as character witness, a shield from backlash against his treatment of Professor Hill. VAWA was situated within the crime bill and tended to focus on training law enforcement and judges, stopping short of addressing the broader scale of violence women confront.

2016: Speaks at the United State of Women conference to a packed room of gender equality advocates, among them untold numbers of survivors, and us, describing his work on the Violence Against Women Act and recounting numerous instances of violence against women in borderline lewd, graphic terms.

2019: Announces his campaign and calls Anita Hill. Professor Hill was not impressed with his apology and shared some pointers for how he might make amends.

Throughout his career: inappropriately grabs, touches and hugs women in congressional offices and the campaign trail.

Links:

Biden's role in the Clarence Thomas hearings in 1991

Violence Against Women Act in 1994

Biden speech at the United State of Women in 2016

Lucy Flores on Joe Biden kissing her head in 2014

CYG Episode 33: Low Key Creep in 2015

J oe Biden "just likes giving hugs"

Biden's non-apology to Anita Hill in 2019

See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Transcript

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0:00.0	Welcome to Call Your Girlfriend.
0:04.6	A podcast for long distance festies everywhere.
0:08.0	I am Amina Tussaud.
0:09.7	And I'm Anne Friedman.
0:11.7	Today is the first of a two-part discussion about Joe Biden and all the many complicated
0:19.9	feelings we have about his positions toward women, power, abuse.
0:26.0	A lot of Joe Biden thoughts is what's happening today and the next episode.
0:56.0	The new levels of relevance of this intro hit me every time we say it.
1:01.6	I know I've said this before, but I think as everybody shelter in place gets extended
1:07.6	and extended, I am just feeling like long distance forever, baby, is like how I'm feeling.
1:13.7	I don't know.
1:14.7	In ways both good and bad.
1:17.3	That's true.
1:18.3	That's true.
1:19.3	Should we get right into it this week?
1:20.3	I don't know.
1:21.3	We have a lot to talk about.
1:22.3	I have no small talk to make.
1:24.5	So let's please get in.
1:26.7	I mean, the theme of this podcast pretty much is small talk, but the foundational core
1:34.2	is small talk.
1:35.2	So you know how I love small talk.
	...

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