Fiorina: It's significant for Biden to have union backing
Former Hewlett-Packard CEO Carly Fiorina on politics in the #MeToo era, Joe Biden and the rest of the 2020 Democratic field.
Former presidential candidate Carly Fiorina defended former Vice President Joe Biden on Tuesday, saying accusations he engaged in inappropriate touching diminished “real abuse” unfolding in today's society.
“Let's take it outside of politics for just one moment. There is real abuse that goes on. Matt Lauer, other people in this town, Harvey Weinstein, other people in Tinseltown, the gymnastics coach, there is real assault and real abuse. This kind of thing diminishes all of that,” Fiorina, a Republican, said on “The Story with Martha MacCallum.”
Fiorina apparently was referencing Larry Nassar, the former team doctor at both USA Gymnastics and Michigan State University sentenced to decades in prison for molesting girls and young women, including dozens of elite gymnasts. Lauer, the longtime "Today" anchor, was fired by NBC News in 2017 over what the network called "inappropriate sexual behavior," while Weinstein, a disgraced Hollywood mogul, is set to stand trial for sexual assault later this year.
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Biden continues to face scrutiny over inappropriate touching and his treatment of Anita Hill during the 1991 confirmation hearings of Clarence Thomas, then a nominee for the U.S. Supreme Court.
Lucy Flores, a former candidate for lieutenant governor in Nevada, accused Biden, a fellow Democrat, of inappropriate touching and wrote an op-ed published in the New York Times on Monday about her experience since making the accusations.
The former Hewlett-Packard CEO spoke out against “relitigating” the past and said clueless or careless behavior may make Biden “thoughtless” but not a “bad man.”
“I'm sorry, relitigating Anita Hill, that was litigated. Clarence Thomas is a Supreme Court justice. Brett Kavanaugh was litigated and he's a Supreme Court justice. Putting someone's shoulders in a work environment -- honestly, it happens all the time. Things that may make women uncomfortable doesn't make a man bad. It maybe makes them thoughtless or clueless or careless but not a bad man,” Fiorina said.
Fiorina said the criticism was an example of the Democrats' shift toward the far left.
“I do think it says that Joe Biden has to get through a primary in the Democratic Party, and the Democratic Party is moving further and further and further and further to the left,” Fiorina said.
Fox News' Martha MacCallum and The Associated Press contributed to this report.
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