Joe Biden Campaign Says It Refunded a Donation from Louis C.K.
The disgraced comedian gave the campaign $2,800 last month, according to Federal Election Commission records. The Biden campaign apparently was not interested.
Photo Illustration by Sarah Rogers/The Daily Beast / Photos Getty
You know things are bad when even a presidential candidate doesn’t want your money. According to Federal Election Commission records, Louis C.K. donated $2,800 to Joe Biden’s presidential campaign last month, the day after the former vice president’s triumphant Super Tuesday performance. The campaign tells Time, however, that it refunded the contribution.
In 2017, multiple women accused Louis C.K. of sexual misconduct. The comedian confirmed the allegations, saying in a statement, “I have spent my long and lucky career talking and saying anything I want. I will now step back and take a long time to listen.”
A year later, however, Louis C.K. had already hit the comedy circuit once more—with a set that, among many other things, mocked the Parkland shooting survivors. The Biden campaign declined to comment further on its refund when speaking to Time, but one might presume it had something to do with Louis C.K.’s fall from grace.
Further complicating matters now is an allegation of sexual assault against Biden himself from former staffer Tara Reade, who has told multiple outlets that Biden pinned her to a wall and forcibly penetrated her with his fingers in 1993.
Biden has denied the allegations. “Vice President Biden has dedicated his public life to changing the culture and the laws around violence against women,” Biden’s Deputy Campaign Manager Kate Bedingfield said in a statement. “He 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.”