ATLANTA (AP) — Democratic candidate Joe Biden said that if he wins the presidency he would not use his power to pardon Donald Trump or stop any investigations of Trump and his associates.
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“It is not something the president is entitled to do, to direct a prosecution or decide to drop a case,” Biden said Thursday on MSNBC. “It’s a dereliction of duty.”
The former vice president made his statement in response to a voter who asked him on Lawrence O’Donnell’s show, “The Last Word,” whether he would “commit to not pulling a Gerald Ford in giving Donald Trump a pardon under the pretense of healing the nation.”
Biden responded, “I commit,” before offering a more lengthy explanation of his view that the president must allow the Justice Department to operate without interference.
Ford became president in 1974 when Richard Nixon resigned under the threat of impeachment. Ford later pardoned his predecessor before any criminal charges related to the Watergate burglary could be filed. Ford went on to lose the 1976 presidential election.
The House impeached Trump in December on charges related to his effort to withhold congressionally appropriated funds from Ukraine in exchange for officials there assisting Trump in sullying Biden. The Senate acquitted him in February on a nearly party line vote.
Biden also said on O’Donnell’s show that voters who believe the former Senate staffer who has accused him of sexually assaulting her in the early 1990s probably shouldn’t cast their ballots for him in November.
“I think they should vote their heart, and if they believe Tara Reade they probably shouldn’t vote for me,” Biden told O’Donnell. “I wouldn’t vote for me if I believed Tara Reade.”
Biden repeated his firm denial of Reade’s assertion that he assaulted her in a Senate hallway 27 years ago. Biden, who served in the Senate 36 years before two terms as vice president, said he does not recall Reade at all.
He said any woman who makes a claim of harassment or assault “should be taken seriously” but the account should be “thoroughly vetted in every case.” He noted “changes” in Reade’s account over time.
In 2019, Reade was among several women who accused Biden of touching them in ways that made them uncomfortable, but none of those accounts at the time including accusations of assault. Reade came forward anew in March with more explicit accusations against the former vice president.
“This is just totally, thoroughly, completely out of character, and the idea that in a public place, in a hallway I would assault a woman, I mean, anyway I promise you, it never happened,” Biden said.
The accusation has not derailed Biden’s path as the presumptive Democratic nominee, but it’s an uncomfortable circumstance for the 77-year-old, who has pledged to name a woman as his running mate and often recounted his work as lead sponsor of the Violence Against Women Act.
Many Republicans have tried to amplify Reade’s story and hammered Biden and other Democrats as hypocrites because of their use of the mantra “Believe Women” during the #MeToo era, including when Christine Blasey Ford accused now-Supreme Court Justice Brett Kavanaugh of sexually assaulting her when they were teens.
Trump, however, has not gone after Biden as eagerly as he typically savages opponents. More than a dozen women have accused Trump of varying levels of harassment and assault, charges he denies.
During the final segments of the MSNBC show Thursday night, Biden appeared split-screen alongside Georgia Democrat Stacey Abrams, one of the women he’s believed to be considering for the vice presidency. Abrams is among the most high-profile black women in the Democratic party, even though she lost the 2018 Georgia governor’s race.
Abrams and Biden praised each other as they discussed voting rights and ballot access amid the coronavirus pandemic.
That’s what I love about Joe. He is a real natural born leader. He doesn’t take “blank” from anyone. He is a uniter. He is civil. I fought side by side with him in Vietnam. A true patriotic American.
In China they repress info. Why is trumpf repressing the CDC Report? Why is he repressing COVID-19 DEATH COUNTS? Is he a chinese commie? Or just a rasha?
Biden the difference is Trump was impeached and exonrated. NOT guilty. Nixon never had that. And yes Nixon was a fat hoax too
Rodney….. you’re goldemadinah and 50 other covid masks. You’ve just been unmasked. You hate trump and Israel and love junderettler soros.
Gotcha.
Yoy were told already to get the heck out.
You dumb?
What’s with these Dems?
Schiff, Hillary and AOC with bugeyes.
Blumenthal & Cuomo with undertaker faces and Murphy with bad teeth.
Throw in Kerry with the pony face
You can’t be on Rodney st.
I know people there and they’re honest so you plagiarizing their good name.
You however, are an obese sputtering liar and nebech not all there.
Here’s a 4 letter word.
MAGA
Joe, how come you don’t remember Ms Reade ??
Huh, groper ??
The others are coming out too , ya know.
Mrs. Biden : whattzupp with de ole man ?
Biden is an evil fool
Together with the rest of the dems.
Evil obumer harasha and is cronies should all be locked up.
The number of Covid deaths are inaccurate for two reasons.
#1 The state’s get money for every person that died from Covid, so who ever dies, they put on the death certificate, died from Covid.
#2 The democratic governor’s are putting on every death certificate, reason of death? Covid!!!!
Why, To make Trump look bad!!!!
It kills the trumpf Lemmings to know that not everyone from Villy is a mindless follower of the Fox News religious cult. Some have advanced degrees (me), are happy (me), vote independently (me), am a publishef author (me), am a Zionist (me), and played competitive ice hockey as a senior (me). I don’t drink bleach and am not obese or out of shape like the 10 Villy chaerdi afraid of 1 teenager on Lee Avenue. Kapos- your sheitluch are on too tight!
To the 2 anonymouses:
My mesorah has a 19th bracha against malshinim and kapos murderers like soros.
YOUR mesorah is your fake news.
anonymous…
Oh, you have stats about haters?
So gays… Your anti -Zionist rabbis and machers ordered us in YIDDISH to vote here in NY for pols who advocate gay marriage , abortions, and OUT with religion.
You are called hypocrite$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$
and phony fake religious leaders.
You haters of Israel are revisionist liars hypocrites and heretics.
Duznt mattah…. Hashem wants it, you cats are Spies. There isn’t a thing you can do against His Will. Nada..Watch your tongues so they don’t stretch..
HATIKVAH
Rodney, take meds. Your German accent is laughable.
So when are you writing for DerSturmer CNN again?
Rodney St.
How many names here are you???you obsesssssssssss about gays.. Is there a reason???? Just askin.
Hhhhaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaahhhhhhh.
Ya. Trumpf, yawhohll ich komme nicht.
Haaaaaaaaasah.
Shabbattt Shalom .kol hakavod…
Can you believe how insane these TDSers are?
Quite sick, literally.
If Biden keads by 8, why the urgency for cheat by mail ballots. Can’t win without illegals, no id’d people and the dead.
ŹFALSH:
CROOKED HILLARY WINS BY 32%.
HIT THE BOTTLE HILLY.
In the end justice will prevail.
The coup criminals will soon be injail, if for nothing else, robbing our time 3 years running and pouring millions to find nothing.
G-D is with our president and we thank Him.
Not to worry.
Evil loses and destroys itself eventually.
Biden is another corrupt politician, he is a rapist and basically exhorted and blackmailed Ukraine onto dropping and investigation on his son. What a piece of work!!!!
Hardly matters about the legal proceedings. History will judge President Trump as it judges all the great and mighty. His tax records, recordings, the acres of memoirs by those who know him will all come out. Nothing can stop that.
biden plosi clinton and obama are total freaks of nature , they will never be president of the usa or the president of anything . We will ship them to Mars in a few years
How can our tribe, G-d’s chosen, who are so successful ba”h possess great business acumen, scientific knowledge etc be so politically asinine? Blindly and faithfully accepting left-wing prattle no matter how many times it panda out to be lies. Stop reading/viewing AP, NYT, WaPo CNN NBC CBS al jazeera buzzfeed Huffington etc. The same loons who push climate and abortion agenda and deny gender. KAG 2020