Do Democrats have a double standard when it comes to the scandals that have engulfed former Vice President Joe Biden and Virginia Lt. Gov. Justin Fairfax? The party has distanced itself from Fairfax. But Democrats appear willing to embrace Biden’s likely candidacy, which could end in disaster by handing the 2020 presidential election to Trump again.
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Earlier this month, the Democratic Party of Virginia rejected a $2,500 donation from Fairfax, which was the cost of a table at the Blue Commonwealth Gala fundraiser in June where several Democratic presidential hopefuls are scheduled to attend, the Washington Post reported on Wednesday.
Fairfax has been shunned by many in the party because two women accused him of sexual assault, which he has denied. Meanwhile, several women have come forward to accuse Biden of inappropriate physical contact that he has apologized for in a video. Despite the long, documented history of Biden’s behavior, Democrats are embracing him as the candidate who could beat the president.
Fairfax’s spokeswoman Lauren Burke said the party is treating him unfairly because he hasn’t been charged with a crime.
“He is innocent and has passed two polygraphs and repeatedly called for an investigation,” Burke stated. “This is beyond comprehension for a state party claiming dedication ‘to the preservation of all the rights enumerated in Article One of the Constitution of Virginia.’ That Article, of course, provides for due process of law. If the Lt. Governor can’t receive due process from his own party how can we assume the average Virginian can?”
Fairfax’s political earthquake struck in February when political science professor Vanessa Tyson and former college classmate Meredith Watson made public accusations against him. Tyson said Fairfax forced her to perform oral sex on him in a Boston hotel room in 2004. Shortly after Tyson came forward, Watson said Fairfax raped her in 2000 while they were undergrads at Duke University.
In Biden’s case, one of the first women to come forward was Lucy Flores, a politician in Nevada, in late March who alleged that the former vice president kissed the back of her head at a campaign rally. Another woman recalled that Biden rubbed noses with her, and others talked about uncomfortable hugs. None of that has stopped Democrats from supporting him. A Monmouth University poll taken from April 4 – April 9, after Flores and others came forward, found that he led the field of Democratic presidential candidates in Iowa, which holds the first primary contest.
Biden has picked up a nickname that could haunt his campaign: “Creepy Uncle Joe.”
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