'face the allegation head-on'
Alyssa Milano: Tara Reade's allegations 'concern me, deeply,' but 'I still support Joe Biden'
Alyssa Milano in a new op-ed says she is "deeply" concerned about Tara Reade's allegation of sexual assault against former Vice President Joe Biden, calling on the presumptive Democratic nominee, who she continues to support, to face the claims "head-on."
The actress and activist in a Deadline op-ed addressed Reade's allegation that Biden sexually assaulted her in the early 1990s when she worked for him in the Senate, which a former neighbor of Reade's recently said she told her about in the 1990s. Milano has endorsed Biden for president and in the Deadline piece reiterates that "I still support" him, arguing for Biden as the "best choice" for "a more equal future."
She goes on to write, however, "The allegations against Joe Biden concern me, deeply. He's a man I know, respect, and admire, and who I can't picture doing any of the things of which he's accused. But I've thought that before, and been wrong." Milano also calls upon Biden to "face the allegation head-on, answer every question, and admit any wrongdoing, and to be the example for all men who face these kinds of accusations whether founded or not."
Although Biden's campaign has denied Reade's allegation, he has not personally addressed it. On Wednesday, The Washington Post's editorial board called upon Biden to do so, as well as to release relevant Senate records. The Post writes, "the way to signal he takes Ms. Reade's case seriously, and the cases of women like her seriously, is to go before the media and the public ready to listen and to reply."
Reade had previously criticized Milano amid her defense of Biden, telling Fox News, "I think we need to compare how she responded to Brett Kavanaugh ... quite different than the talking points she [used] regarding Joe Biden." Read Milano's full op-ed at Deadline.