Biden Endorsed by Human Rights Campaign

On May 6, 2012, then-Vice President Joe Biden made history with his support for marriage equality on Meet the Press. Now, eight years later, the Human Rights Campaign (HRC)’s Board of Directors, comprised of 26 community leaders from across the nation, unanimously voted to endorse Biden for President of the United States in the 2020 race for the White House.

HRC president Alphonso David elaborated on the endorsement in a media statement:

“Vice President Joe Biden is the leader our community and our country needs at this moment. His dedication to advancing LGBTQ equality, even when it was unpopular to do so, has pushed our country and our movement forward. This November, the stakes could not be higher. Far too many LGBTQ people, and particularly those who are most vulnerable, face discrimination, intimidation, and violence simply because of who they are and who they love. But rather than have our backs, Donald Trump and Mike Pence have spent the last three-and-a-half years rolling back and rescinding protections for LGBTQ people. Joe Biden will be a president who stands up for all of us. HRC and our more than three million members and supporters will work day and night to ensure he is the next President of the United States.”

However, Biden isn’t without his share of accusations. In this case, accusations against former Vice President Joe Biden come from former Senate staffer Tara Reade, who says the putative Democratic presidential nominee sexually assaulted her in 1993 while she worked in his Capitol Hill office.

“From the very beginning, I’ve said believing women means taking the woman’s claim seriously when she steps forward, and then vet it,” Biden responded, adding, “In this case, the truth is, the claims are false.”

His answer was a reminder of something crucial about the phrase “believe women”: It’s easy to say, and perhaps significantly harder to act on. So, while Biden may appear to be the lesser of two evils in this upcoming election, I find myself asking, how many more candidates will Democrats settle for in the face of opposition like Trump or Pence?