Anita Hill Left 'Deeply Unsatisfied' By Joe Biden's 'Apology'

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.

The focus on apology, to me, is one thing. But he needs to give an apology to the other women and to the American public because we know now how deeply disappointed Americans around the country were about what they saw. And not just women. There are women and men now who have just really lost confidence in our government to respond to the problem of gender violence.

— Anita Hill, commenting on the telephone conversation she recently had with Democratic presidential candidate Joe Biden, where he expressed “his regret for what she endured” when he presided over Supreme Court nominee Clarence Thomas’s confirmation hearings. At the time, Biden served as the chairman of the Senate Judiciary Committee, and Hill had accussed Thomas of sexual harassment. Thomas was confirmed nonetheless, and Hill says that “set the stage” for the confirmation of Brett Kavanaugh, who was also accused of sexual misconduct toward women.

Although Hill says she wasn’t satisfied by the conversation, and has refused to refer to it as an “apology,” she’s “willing to give [Biden] the chance” to distinguish himself from President Donald Trump on issues of sexual harassment and gender violence and “hope[s] he will step up.”

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Staci Zaretsky is a senior editor at Above the Law, where she’s worked since 2011. She’d love to hear from you, so please feel free to email her with any tips, questions, comments, or critiques. You can follow her on Twitter or connect with her on LinkedIn.