In a stunning about-face, Alyssa Milano no longer “believes all women.” 

The actress, and self-appointed spokesperson for the #MeToo movement, apparently doesn’t think Tara Reade is credible. Reade, a former staff assistant in Joe Biden’s Senate office, claims that Biden digitally penetrated her in 1993 without her consent. Biden denies the allegation. 

Previously, Milano took the position that in “he-said/she-said” situations, such as this one, we should always believe accusers — even when their allegations are decades old, lack corroborating evidence, and arise for the first time when the accused is seeking higher office.

In fact, in 2018, Milano was a vocal supporter of Dr. Christine Blasey Ford, who claimed that Republican Supreme Court nominee Brett Kavanaugh sexually assaulted her at a party when they were teenagers. In fact, so convinced was Milano of Dr. Ford’s credibility that she flew to D.C. to lobby Senators to vote against Kavanaugh. At the time, Milano tweeted:

I’m in D.C.  because I don’t believe any man’s misogyny should take precedent [sic] over a survivor’s humanity. We tried to see a [sic] Murkowski, Collins and Hyde-Smith today and share our stories of survival. They refused to see us. #KavaNo #BelieveWomen #SurvivorStrong

What a difference party affiliation makes. Despite Reade’s charges, Milano is standing by Biden, the presumptive Democratic nominee for president, whom she says she has known for 15 years. 

“I never thought [Me Too] would be something that would destroy innocent men,” Milano told SirusXM radio, expressing concern that we will “destroy[] lives if we publicly don’t go through the right steps in order to find out if an accusation is credible or not.” Milano, in other words, has discovered due process.  

Funny, because in December 2018, when Secretary of Education Betsey DeVos proposed regulations that would require colleges and universities to provide basic due process protections in sexual assault investigations, Milano released a video accusing DeVos of “protecting predators” and telling her to “shove [the new regs] up her _____.” 

Biden, too, opposes the new regulations and has promised to restore the Obama administration’s infamous 2011 Dear Colleague letter that gave colleges and universities legal cover for their gross deprivations of due process. This is, perhaps, not surprising, given that, as vice president, Biden championed policies that eliminated due process protections for accused students and threatened colleges and universities with revocation of federal funding if they did not discipline a larger number of students for sexual misconduct. 

It is expected that DeVos will soon issue the final version of the regulations that Milano and Biden find so objectionable. The regulations will restore balance by requiring that schools address claims of sexual misconduct and investigate such claims fairly.

Last week, in response to Reade’s allegations, deputy Biden campaign manager Kate Bedingfield issued the following statement: 

[Vice President Biden] firmly believes that women have a right to be heard — and heard respectfully. Such claims should also be diligently reviewed by an independent press. What is clear about this claim: It is untrue. This absolutely did not happen.

Maybe not. But it’s too bad that Joe Biden doesn’t want college students to receive the same due process he expects for himself.