Chris Wallace: President Trump does not ‘come in with clean hands’ on sexual assault allegations
‘Fox News Sunday’ anchor Chris Wallace compares the Joe Biden and President Trump sexual assault allegations and if it will impact the 2020 presidential elections.
Joe Biden's new response to former Senate staffer Tara Reade's allegations of sexual assault was "skillful," "Fox News Sunday" host Chris Wallace stated Friday.
In an interview on "America's Newsroom" with host Sandra Smith, Wallace pointed out that Biden was able to flatly deny the allegation against him, while also carefully avoiding dismissing the allegations of women in general.
During an hour-long town hall with MSNBC's Lawrence O'Donnell, Biden vehemently denied Reade's claims, telling O'Donnell he didn't remember Reade.
"But, let me get something clear," Biden said, "When a woman makes a claim that she has been harassed or abused, and this claim has changed... she should be taken seriously. She should come forward, share her story, she should be taken seriously and it should be thoroughly vetted. And in every case, what matters is the truth. The truth is what matters. And the truth of the case is nothing like this ever, ever happened... I give you my word. It never, ever happened."
In response to an op-ed published in The New York Times titled "I Believe Tara Reade. I'm Voting for Joe Biden Anyway," Biden told voters to "vote their heart" but if they believed Reade, they "probably shouldn't vote for [him]."
"I wouldn't vote for me if I believed Tara Reade," Biden told O'Donnell.
Calling that a "skillful answer," Wallace told Smith that he believes the issue will peter out in the news cycle ahead of the election unless Reade finds further evidence that provides more "backing" to her case or if another accuser comes forward.
"Yes, there were the stories in 2019 about him touching women's shoulders and getting too close to them and they were feeling uncomfortable, but nothing anywhere close to the level of sexual assault," he added.
"If there were another case or two of that, then I think it would add a lot of weight to it. But you know, I don't think this story by itself continues on for another almost six months," Wallace predicted.
"And, you know, let's also be clear, President Trump...does not come in with clean hands on this either. There obviously have been a number of women who have accused him of sexual assault," he told Smith.
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"So, I don't know that people...[who] are upset by even the allegation of sexual assault will say: 'That's it, I'm not going for Biden. I'll go for President Trump instead, who has also denied similar allegations," Wallace concluded.
To date, more than two dozen women have accused the president of sexual assault.
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