'I wouldn't vote for me if I believed Tara Reade': Joe Biden encourages those that believe his accuser to 'vote their heart'

• Former Vice President Joe Biden said he wouldn't vote for himself if he believed his accuser Tara Reade, and encouraged people who did believe her to vote with "their heart."
• The former vice president and 2020 presumptive Democratic candidate appeared on MSNBC's "The Last Word," on Thursday with Georgia gubernatorial candidate Stacey Abrams, who is apparently in talks to be his running mate.
• "If they believe Tara Reade, they probably shouldn't vote for me," Biden said during the MSNBC interview. "I wouldn't vote for me if I believed Tara Reade. There is no truth to it. I promise you."
• First reported by Business Insider, Reade filed a criminal complaint alleging that Biden sexually assaulted her in a congressional hallway when she was a staffer in his Senate office in 1993.
• While Biden's campaign and former Senate staffers in Biden's office have denied her allegations, a neighbor of Reade corroborated her story to Business Insider.
• Visit Business Insider's homepage for more stories.

Former Vice President and 2020 presumptive Democratic nominee Joe Biden encouraged people who believe his accuser Tara Reade to vote with "their heart," but stated there is "no truth" to her claims.

He appeared alongside Georgia gubernatorial candidate Stacey Abrams on MSNBC's "The Last Word with Lawrence O'Donnell" on Thursday.

"If they believe Tara Reade, they probably shouldn't vote for me," Biden said during the MSNBC interview. "I wouldn't vote for me if I believed Tara Reade. There is no truth to it. I promise you."

First reported by Business Insider, Reade filed a criminal complaint against Biden, accusing him of sexual assault in a 1993 incident when she worked for his Senate office while in her 20s. The former vice president has consistently denied the allegation.

In the complaint, Reade accused Biden of putting his hands under her skirt and penetrating her with his fingers without her consent in a Senate corridor in 1993. A neighbor of Reade's corroborated her story to Business Insider, saying she was told of the alleged incident several years later.

Biden's campaign and several former Senate staffers in Biden's office have denied her allegations, saying they don't remember Reade.

In an exclusive interview Megyn Kelly, Reade claimed that Biden told her "I want to f--- you" during the alleged 1993 assault.

"He said it low, and I was pushing away, and I remember my knee hurting because our knees — he had opened my legs with his knee — and our kneecaps clashed, so I felt that sharp pain," Reade told Kelly.

Biden emphasized during the MSNBC interview that women have a right to be heard, but said, "I give you my word: it never, ever happened," adding that he thinks Reade's story "changes considerably" during retellings.