September 22, 2019
At Friday's forum on LGBTQ issues in Iowa, 2020 presidential candidate Joe Biden found himself on the defensive when asked questions by a local female reporter, who claimed later that his treatment of her was condescending.
"In a question-and-answer session, Ms. Lenz repeatedly pressed Mr. Biden about his past votes for the Defense of Marriage Act, the military" s="" 'don't="" ask,="" don't="" tell'="" policy="" that="" forbade="" openly="" gay="" people="" from="" serving="" and="" his="" statement="" earlier="" this="" year="" that="" Vice="" President="" Mike="" Pence,="" known="" for="" his="" socially="" conservative="" positions,="" was="" 'a="" decent="" guy.'"
Her questions,
Lenz quickly replied, "Just asking the questions that people want to know."
"Mr. Biden sought to defend himself, reminding the audience in a steamy auditorium that he supported same-sex marriage before President Obama. ]I didn't have to evolve,' he said," reported the Times. (The reference was to the Obama's need to express how he evolved on the issue.)
Ms. Lenz tweeted that backstage Mr. Biden called her "a real sweetheart."
"'I interpreted it as a little condescending,; Ms. Lenz said in a backstage interview, echoing the immediate criticism of some prominent feminists on social media," writes the Times.
"Watch him grow angry at @lyzl" s="" solid="" question="" --="" and="" then="" try="" to="" slap="" her="" down="" in="" the="" most="" patronizing="" way,"="" Giridharadas="" tweeted.
Biden's supporters found some inaccuracies in Ms. Lenz's questions. "His supporters said he didn't back 'don't ask, don't tell' and voted for an amendment to remove the measure from a broader bill in 1993. They also argue that she misrepresented the impact of the 1994 crime bill that he championed," reports the Times.
"Mr. Biden had already responded to criticism of his comments about Mr. Pence earlier this year, writing on Twitter shortly after his initial remark that 'there is nothing decent about being anti-L.G.B.T.Q. rights, and that includes the vice president.'"
"At times, Biden seemed to struggle with his answers. The then-senator helped champion the 1994 crime bill that critics link to today's cycle mass incarceration, and Lenz asked him about that bill's specific impact on LGBTQ people of color. In response, Biden tried to argue that inmates should be imprisoned based on their gender identity, rather than on the sex they were assigned at birth – a stance in line with what advocates have called for – but appeared to conflate sexuality and gender identity.
"'In prison, the determination should be that your sexual identity is defined by what you say it is, not what in fact the prison says it is,' Biden said."
Watch an edited clip of the exchange below:
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