Betsy DeVos has stated that Joe Biden's behavior with her on the day they met in person would be a problem for him under the president's intended changes to Title IX. The meeting took place in 2019.
The former Secretary of Education defines the meeting in these terms:
I’ve only had one encounter with Joe Biden. And it was before he had decided to run for president again. I was in a wheelchair. I was backstage after speaking. He came up to me, I had never met him before in my life. He came up to me, put his hands on my shoulders, put his forehead on my forehead for several seconds, and had a “conversation” with me.
Guilty under his proposed rule
The politician made these statements during an interview on The Megyn Kelly Show. Attorney and journalist Megyn Kelly considers Joe Biden's case with Betsy DeVos "another example of his inappropriate boundary crossing."
DeVos, who has never told the story before, believes the time is right to do so:
If he had done that as a student on a college campus, under his proposed rule, I would have a Title IX sexual harrasment allegation against him because of his conduct.
I’ve heard from many students who had lesser encounters or lesser situations than what to encounter with him. And yet, he wants this for college students, but will not acknowledge or agree to probes into allegations of much more grievous conduct on his part against other women.
I’m just using this as an example to say this Administration is so bent on trying to politicise and weaponize a law that was ment to protect woman and to give us access to education, not to weaponize it to harm others. This is a really, really bad direction that they’re taking with their proposed Title IX rule, and I hope people will speak up about it.
50 years of Title IX
In 1972, under the presidency of Richard Nixon, Title IX of the Education Act Amendments was passed. That title states: "No person in the United States shall, on the basis of sex, be excluded from, or be subjected to discrimination under, any education program or activity receiving federal funds. This reform was made following the provision of the 14th Amendment, which states that no state may "deny to any person within its jurisdiction the equal protection of the laws."
President Biden, in a statement released by the White House, acknowledged the progress that has followed the legislative changes pushed through under Nixon's presidency. He added, "I am committed to protecting this progress and working to achieve full equality, inclusion, and dignity for women and girls, LGBTQI+ Americans, all students, and all Americans."
Biden specifically mentions sexually harassing behaviors. The proposed changes would define sexual harassment as "unwelcome sexual conduct that creates a hostile environment by denying or limiting a person's ability to participate in or benefit from a school's educational program or activity."
