'This Never Happened,' Biden Says Of 1990s Sexual Assault Allegation

More than a month after being publicly accused of sexual assault by a former Senate staffer in the 1990s, former Vice President Joe Biden says the allegations "aren't true. This never happened."

Biden's campaign released a statement Friday morning from the presumptive Democratic presidential nominee shortly before a live television interview with MSNBC. The statement and interview are the candidate's first direct response to the allegations by former Biden Senate staff assistant Tara Reade.

In the statement, Biden seeks to walk the line between respecting and listening to sexual assault allegations — a hallmark of most Democrats' response to the #MeToo movement — and defending himself.

"While the details of these allegations of sexual harassment and sexual assault are complicated, two things are not complicated," Biden said in the statement. "One is that women deserve to be treated with dignity and respect, and when they step forward they should be heard, not silenced. The second is that their stories should be subject to appropriate inquiry and scrutiny. Responsible news organizations should examine and evaluate the full and growing record of inconsistencies in her story, which has changed repeatedly in both small and big ways."