--- title: Joe Biden Says He Owes Anita Hill an Apology description: Joe Biden said he owes Anita Hill an apology for the treatment she faced during her 1991 testimony about Clarence Thomas' alleged sexual harassment. canonical: https://time.com/5064108/joe-biden-anita-hill-apology/ author: Samantha Cooney article:opinion: false article:content_tier: free article:published_time: 2017-12-14T15:02:38.000Z article:modified_time: 2026-02-23T18:34:19.252Z article:section: Politics og:title: Joe Biden Says He Owes Anita Hill an Apology og:description: 'I wish I had been able to do more for Anita Hill' og:url: https://time.com/5064108/joe-biden-anita-hill-apology/ og:site_name: TIME og:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt3cbab88935791403/6988a1d897cdff2a6e6ad64d/anita-hill.jpeg?branch=production&width=3840&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 og:image:width: 1200 og:image:height: 675 og:image:alt: anita-hill og:type: article twitter:card: summary_large_image twitter:title: Joe Biden Says He Owes Anita Hill an Apology twitter:description: 'I wish I had been able to do more for Anita Hill' twitter:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt3cbab88935791403/6988a1d897cdff2a6e6ad64d/anita-hill.jpeg?branch=production&width=3840&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 ---  # 'I Wish I Had Been Able to Do More.' Joe Biden Says He Owes Anita Hill an Apology ## Video: HBO 'Confirmation' Trailer [Watch (HLS stream): HBO 'Confirmation' Trailer](https://cdn.jwplayer.com/manifests/Ue3GHXfZ.m3u8) (1:28)  _Published 2016-04-06_  by [Samantha Cooney](/author/samantha-cooney/)  ## Samantha Cooney Dec 14, 2017 3:02 PM CUT  ASPEN, CO - JULY 29: Anita Hill speaks during Anita, NEW VIEWS Documentaries & Dialogue, co-presented by the Aspen Institute Arts Program and Aspen Film at the Paepke Auditorium at the Aspen Institute on July 29, 2013 in Aspen, Colorado. (Photo by Leigh Vogel/Getty Images) ASPEN, CO - JULY 29: Anita Hill speaks during Anita, NEW VIEWS Documentaries & Dialogue, co-presented by the Aspen Institute Arts Program and Aspen Film at the Paepke Auditorium at the Aspen Institute on July 29, 2013 in Aspen, Colorado. (Photo by Leigh Vogel/Getty Images)Leigh Vogel—Getty Images  by [Samantha Cooney](/author/samantha-cooney/)  ## Samantha Cooney Dec 14, 2017 3:02 PM CUT Joe Biden says he owes [Anita Hill](http://time.com/5018066/anita-hill-sexual-assault-hearing-harvey-weinstein/ "undefined") an apology over the treatment she faced in 1991 when she testified before Congress that Clarence Thomas [had sexually harassed her. ](http://time.com/5018066/anita-hill-sexual-assault-hearing-harvey-weinstein/ "undefined") The former vice president oversaw Thomas’ 1991 Supreme Court confirmation hearing at the Senate Judiciary Committee. When Hill testified that Thomas had harassed her while she worked for him, she faced aggressive questioning and attacks on her credibility. Thomas, who was eventually confirmed to the Supreme Court by a vote of 52 to 48, denied Hill’s allegations. Biden said in an interview with _Teen Vogue_ published on Dec. 13 that he [didn’t do enough to tone down the attacks against Hill.](https://www.teenvogue.com/story/joe-biden-anita-hill "undefined") “I wish I had been able to do more for Anita Hill. I owe her an apology,” Biden said. “My one regret is that I wasn’t able to tone down the attacks on her by some of my Republican friends. I mean, they really went after her. As much as I tried to intervene, I did not have the power to gavel them out of order. I tried to be like a judge and only allow a question that would be relevant to ask.” Biden, who voted against Thomas’ confirmation, added that he later campaigned for two women to get seats on the Senate Judiciary Committee “so there would never be again all men making a judgment on this.” Biden also previously [said at a Nov. 13 event that he was sorry about the treatment of Hill](https://www.huffingtonpost.com/entry/a-woman-just-asked-joe-biden-if-he-wouldve-handled-anita-hill-differently%5Fus%5F5a09f7b1e4b0bc648a0d18f6 "undefined"), who has become a vocal advocate for [victims of sexual harassment](http://time.com/time-person-of-the-year-2017-silence-breakers/ "undefined"). In the years since the hearing, Biden has [advocated](http://motto.time.com/4757002/joe-biden-its-on-us-george-mason-sexual-assault/ "undefined") for sexual assault and harassment victims and authored the Violence Against Women Act. But [Hill](https://www.washingtonpost.com/lifestyle/magazine/anita-hill-and-her-1991-congressional-defenders-to-joe-biden-you-were-part-of-the-problem/2017/11/21/2303ba8a-ce69-11e7-a1a3-0d1e45a6de3d%5Fstory.html?utm%5Fterm=.6c6f5b52b000 "undefined") and several [other women](https://www.politico.com/story/2015/09/biden-anita-hill-women-senate-clarence-thomas-213864 "undefined") have said that Biden hasn’t [fully reckoned](https://www.thecut.com/2017/10/harvey-weinstein-donald-trump-sexual-assault-stories.html "undefined") with his role in the Hill hearing. “He also doesn’t understand that it wasn’t just that I felt it was not fair,” Hill [told the Washington _Post_](https://www.washingtonpost.com/lifestyle/magazine/anita-hill-and-her-1991-congressional-defenders-to-joe-biden-you-were-part-of-the-problem/2017/11/21/2303ba8a-ce69-11e7-a1a3-0d1e45a6de3d%5Fstory.html?tid=a%5Finl&utm%5Fterm=.96ca14a211b0 "undefined") on Nov. 16\. “It was that women were looking to the Senate Judiciary Committee and his leadership to really open the way to have these kinds of hearings. They should have been using best practices to show leadership on this issue on behalf of women’s equality. And they did just the opposite.” ```json [{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"NewsArticle","@id":"https://time.com/5064108/joe-biden-anita-hill-apology/","mainEntityOfPage":{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https://time.com/5064108/joe-biden-anita-hill-apology/"},"headline":"'I Wish I Had Been Able to Do More.' 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