Jill Biden Says ‘It’s Time To Move On’ From Anita Hill

Former Vice President Joe Biden’s Wife, Jill Biden, said Tuesday it is time for people to “move on” regarding Anita Hill and the way she was treated during Justice Clarence Thomas’s 1991 confirmation hearing.

“I watched the hearings like most other Americans, and so I mean Joe said, as I did, we believed Anita Hill. He voted against Clarence Thomas. And as he has said, I mean he’s called Anita Hill, they’ve talked, they’ve spoken, and he said, you know, he feels badly. He apologized for the way the hearings were run. And so now it’s kind of — it’s time to move on,” Biden said in an interview with NPR.

This comes as the former vice president called Hill in April, before announcing his bid for the presidency, however, Hill told The New York Times she was not pleased with their conversation, saying “I cannot be satisfied by simply saying I’m sorry for what happened to you. I will be satisfied when I know there is real change and real accountability and real purpose.”

In late April, Biden said that he takes personal responsibility for Hill’s treatment during Thomas’s confirmation hearings, saying he “believed her from the very beginning, but I was chairman,” in a “Good Morning America” interview. “She did not get a fair hearing. She did not get treated well. That’s my responsibility. As the committee chairman, I take responsibility that she did not get treated well. I take responsibility for that,” Biden continued.

Democratic Sen. Amy Klobuchar, a 2020 presidential candidate, said Biden’s handling of Anita Hill’s testimony before the Senate Judiciary Committee will greatly impact his 2020 campaign.

Despite the criticism, Biden remains at the top of polls among 2020 Democratic candidates.