On Friday, two months after Tara Reade came forward with allegations of sexual assault in the 1990s by then-senator Joe Biden, he responded directly to the claims in a one-on-one interview with MSNBC's Mika Brzenzski, issuing a denial of the events as described by Reade.
Political commentator Sue O'Connell joined Boston Public Radio on Friday to wade through the current situation, as the general election approaches, and Biden plans to challenge an incumbent president who has been credibly accused of sexual misconduct and assault by dozens of women.
"People are stuck in a bind. They would like to say one charge is enough to disqualify someone from running for president," said O'Connell. "But here we are going into the final general election and you have someone who's been charged almost 20 times and someone who has one charge that is being investigated against him."
O'Connell said Biden remains Democrats' best bet to remove President Trump from the Oval Office, but noted that any investigation into misconduct should continue, acknowledging that more information may come to light.
"If this charge ends up being something that becomes more credible or grows more credible by the day, then the Democrats are going to have to take a hard look at what they're doing in terms of who's going to be the nominee," she said. "It just seems like everything's up in the air, but again if you want to get rid of Trump, you're going to have to vote for somebody who you may find unappealing."
Sue O'Connell is co-publisher of Bay Windows and South End News, and an NECN politcal commentator.
