Torres Small thinks Biden should be disqualified from running for president

In September 2018, the Democrat Party of New Mexico sent a letter demanding then-U.S. Senate candidate Mick Rich drop out of the race for dismissing Dr. Christine Blasey Ford’s unsubstantiated allegations of sexual assault in 1982 against then-nominee for the U.S. Supreme Court Judge Brett Kavanaugh.

According to the letter co-signed by then-candidate Xochitl Torres Small, “The reality is that our culture of rejecting sexual assault claims will continue as long as people who are in positions of power use their perches to first blame survivors, cast aspersions on their credibility and character, and minimize the trauma they have experienced.”

“We have heard a litany of excuses from ‘it was so long ago,’ to ‘why didn’t she report it?’ and of course, outright dismissals that the incident ever took place,” the letter continued. 

Now, Democrat presidential candidate former Vice Presiden Joe Biden faces his own slew of allegations from former U.S. Senate staffer Tara Reade, claiming he penetrated her in 1993. Not only is Reade’s story more credible than Blasey Ford’s in terms of her recollection of the incident, but her claims of sexual assault are also well-documented over decades. 

However, Joe Biden is brushing off Reade’s claims, telling MSNBC’s Morning Joe, “No. It is not true. I’m saying unequivocally: It never, never happened. And it didn’t. It never happened.” 

Biden was pressed on his response, with host Mika Brzezinski asking, “You were unequivocal in 2018 during the Kavanaugh controversy and hearings that women should be believed. You said this: ‘For a woman to come forward in the glaring lights, the focus nationally, you’ve got to start off with the presumption that at least the essence of what she is talking about is real. Whether or not she forgets the facts, whether or not it has been made worse or better over time.’ [Reade is] going to be going on national television on Sunday. Tara Reade is coming forward in the glaring lights, to use your words—should we not start off with the presumption that the essence of what she’s talking about is real? She says you sexually assaulted her.”

Biden responded, “Look, from the beginning, I’ve said believing a woman means taking the woman’s claim seriously when she steps forward. And then vet it. Look into it. That’s true in this case as well. Women have a right to be heard, and the press should investigate claims they make. I will always uphold that principle.  But in the end, in every case, the truth is what matters. In this case, the truth is: The claims are false.” 

With the claims that have now been unearthed, Biden’s stance has shifted from “believe all women,” to “don’t believe that woman.” 

The Piñon Post has reached out on two separate occasions to the Democrat Party of New Mexico and the Office of U.S. Representative Xochitl Torres Small. Neither have given so much as a response, much less a comment.

At the time, the Democrat Party of New Mexico asked “that in the future, he will support survivors rather than contributing to their silence,” concluding with, “We believe that anything short of this disqualifies Mick Rich from representing the people of New Mexico.”

Therefore, due to both parties’ lack of response on this issue, the only reasonable conclusion that can be made is that Torres Small and the Democrat Party of New Mexico stand by their previous letter, and believe Joe Biden should be disqualified from running for president. Biden using his position of power to silence Tara Reade goes against the exact logic used in the 2018 letter.

It is possible Rep. Torres Small does, indeed believe Biden should drop out due to her lack of a public endorsement of Joe Biden for the presidency, being the only member of New Mexico’s congressional delegation not to do so. Torres Small represents New Mexico’s 2nd Congressional District, which was won by President Trump in 2016 by a margin of 10.2%.