Alyssa Milano Breaks Silence on Biden’s Sexual Assault Allegation, Says Men Deserve ‘Due Process’

OPINION | This article contains commentary that reflects the author's opinion.

According to a report from Fox News, Alyssa Milano, an actor, and activist, has defended her decision to stay silent on the topic of the sexual allegations against Joe Biden by his former staffer in 1993.

During an interview with talk show host, Andy Cohen, Milano said, “So it’s actually quite a serious reason, I think. So I’ve been I endorsed Joe Biden. And there have been accusations against Joe about sexual assault,” Milano began. “I have not publicly said anything about this.”

“If you remember, it kind of took me a long time to publicly say anything about Harvey [Weinstein] as well because I believe that even though we should believe women and that is an important thing. And what that statement really means is like, you know, for so long, the go-to has been not to believe them. So really, we have to sort of societally change that mindset to believing women.”

“But that does not mean at the expense of not, you know, giving men their due process and investigating situations and giving, you know, it’s gotta be fair and in both directions,” she said.

“So, I’ve been very vocal about Biden and my support for him. I’ve known him for a long time,” Milano explained.

“And I did do my due diligence because part of it was that – and the article that sort of stood out to me was that Time’s Up decided not to take the case. And so, you know…”

Cohen interjected, “That was important to you. That meant, ‘Well, maybe there’s more to this story here.’”

“Right,” “I did my work and I spoke to Time’s Up and I just don’t feel comfortable throwing away a decent man that I’ve known for 15 years in this time of complete chaos, without there being a thorough investigation and I’m sure that the mainstream media would be jumping all over this as well if, you know, if they …”

Cohen said, “If we weren’t in a pandemic or if there was more credible, if there was evidence that was…”

“If they found more evidence or through their investigation,” Milano continued. “So I’m just kind of staying quiet about it. And because I’m staying quiet about it…”

“You are getting dragged by the Bernie Bros,” said Cohen.

“Right,” Milano said. “They’re calling me hypocritical for, you know, and saying that I’m a fake feminist and all of this stuff that I’m still trying desperately to stand back and be sort of objective about this because I don’t want this to you know – I sent the #MeToo tweet over two years ago. I never thought that it would be something that was going to destroy innocent men. Right? Like, we don’t want that to happen either.”

Milano further explained, “So we have to find this balance in the ‘believe women movement’ and also giving men their due process. And, you know, realizing that we’re destroying lives, if we publicly don’t go through the right steps in order to find out if an accusation is credible or not.”

More from Fox News:

For her remarks and subsequent about-face, Milano was lambasted on social media with many Twitter responders labeling her a “hypocrite.”

“All that due process she wanted to give Kavanaugh. spare me,” one user wrote while including a ‘rolling eyes’ emoji.

“You hijacked #MeToo (a mvt meant to help sexual assault victims), politicized it and now you just delegitimized it, robbing victims of any hope of representation in the future. If there is justice in this world, i hope it finds you,” said another Twitter user as many others shared the sentiment.

“Oh so you investigated and deemed it not credible, but believe other women,” wrote another social media responder.

Biden has vehemently denied the newly surfaced allegation, calling the claim “false” in a statement to Fox News after the interview with Reade — an apparent supporter of Biden’s primary rival, Sen. Bernie Sanders, I-Vt., who said she was a staff assistant for Biden in 1993 when he was in the Senate — went public in The Intercept.

“Women have a right to tell their story, and reporters have an obligation to rigorously vet those claims. We encourage them to do so, because these accusations are false,” Kate Bedingfield, deputy campaign manager and communications director for the Biden campaign, said in the statement.

A former executive assistant to then-Sen. Biden also challenged the account, calling it “clearly false.” Reade has come forward before — last year when multiple women emerged claiming inappropriate touching by Biden.