Biden Still Can't Get It Right

Another day, another attempt by Joe Biden to get past the nearly 30-year-old controversy about his appalling treatment of Anita Hill. At this point it’s like he thinks if he does 10 statements of vague regret he gets a free coffee with the next one.

Today’s comments came in an ABC News preview of an interview Biden gave to Good Morning America’s Robin Roberts that is set to air tomorrow. So how did ol’ Joey do this time? From ABC (emphasis mine):

“I believed her from the very beginning, but I was chairman. She did not get a fair hearing. She did not get treated well. That’s my responsibility,” Biden told “Good Morning America” co-anchor Robin Roberts during an interview on Monday which will fully air on Tuesday. “As the committee chairman, I take responsibility that she did not get treated well. I take responsibility for that.”

Biden also said he issued an apology to Hill.

“I apologized for it,” the former vice president said ahead of his first event as a 2020 presidential candidate at a union hall in Pittsburgh on Monday. “I apologize again because, look, here’s the deal. She just did not get treated fair across the board. The system did not work.”

This is, I suppose, progress—at least he is taking some level of responsibility—but I would just note that Hill herself does not think that Joe Biden apologized sufficiently to her at all. As she told the New York Times last week:

I cannot be satisfied by simply saying, “I’m sorry for what happened to you.” I will be satisfied when I know that there is real change and real accountability and real purpose to correct the issues that are still there.

I would also note that, while Biden says he takes responsibility for the fact that Hill was not “treated well,” he is still unwilling to own up to the fact that he himself did not treat her well. He told The View last Friday, “I don’t think I treated her badly,” and it seems that he still feels that way. Oh well, maybe he’ll finally get it right on the 286th attempt.