ALSO SEE: Joe Biden Declines to Directly Apologize to Anita Hill
for His Handling of 1991 Hearing

Anita Hill Eviscerates Joe Biden's "Apology" in Scathing Interview

By Alison Durkee, Vanity Fair

27 April 19

“The focus on apology to me is one thing,” she said. “But he needs to give an apology to the other women and to the American public because we know now how deeply disappointed Americans around the country were about what they saw.”

ormer Vice President Joe Biden’s attempt at getting ahead of his Anita Hill problem backfired on Thursday, as the newly-announced presidential candidate’s campaign leaked a conversation between the two—only to be quickly upstaged by Hill’s own account of the event. Biden has long faced criticism over his treatment of Hill during Justice Clarence Thomas’s 1991 Supreme Court hearing, which he presided over as the then-chair of the Senate Judiciary Committee. Hill has said that Biden “could have done more” to support her allegation that Thomas had sexually harassed her, including by allowing more witnesses to testify who supported her claims, and said prior to their conversation that Biden had never personally apologized to her.

Undoubtedly anticipating that his treatment of Hill will become an issue for Biden, his campaign confirmed Thursday that the former V.P. had recently spoken with Hill to express his ”regret” over the Supreme Court hearing. “They had a private discussion where he shared with her directly his regret for what she endured and his admiration for everything she has done to change the culture around sexual harassment in this country,” a campaign spokesman said in a statement. Biden has previously expressed remorse, saying in March that he “regret[s] that I could not come up with a way to get her the kind of hearing she deserved.”

For Hill, though, the one-on-one with Biden was apparently too little, too late. Soon after news of their conversation broke, The New York Times published Hill’s own account of their discussion, which she said left her feeling ”deeply unsatisfied” and could not characterize as a full apology. “I cannot be satisfied by simply saying I’m sorry for what happened to you. I will be satisfied when I know there is real change and real accountability and real purpose,” Hill told the Times, adding that she would not be supporting Biden's candidacy. Biden “needs to give an apology to the other women and to the American public because we know now how deeply disappointed Americans around the country were about what they saw,” she said.

Hill’s response ensures that the 1991 hearing will continue to haunt Biden’s campaign, particularly given the recent controversies surrounding his handsiness, and the diverse slate of qualified female candidates he’s running against. Even before Biden officially announced his campaign, the 76-year-old white male candidate faced heightened scrutiny during the She the People presidential forum in Houston on Wednesday. The event’s female attendees of color didn’t hold back in their criticism of Biden—one attendee wore a shirt saying “I still believe Anita Hill”—perhaps foreshadowing the candidate’s difficulties in winning over a younger and more diverse Democratic base. “I know that we have been cultured to feel that only the white man can save us,” organizer Roxy D. Hall Williamson said at the event. “I just don't feel like Biden is our answer.”