Former Vice President Joe Biden said Tuesday that he wished he could have done something to prevent the attacks against law Professor Anita Hill that followed her sexual harassment allegations in 1991 against now-Supreme Court Justice Clarence Thomas.

To this day, I regret that I couldnt get her the type of hearing she deserved, Biden said at an award ceremony in New York honoring students working to combat sexual assault on college campuses. She paid a terrible price. She was abused through the hearing. She was taken advantage of, her reputation was attacked.

Biden, who is widely expected to formally announce a 2020 presidential bid soon, has faced criticism for his handling of Thomas 1991 confirmation hearing, when he was a Democratic senator from Delaware and chair of the Senate Judiciary Committee. Biden famously did not allow testimony from several other women who had similar allegations or could corroborate Hills allegations against Thomas.

The former vice president has expressed regret for the treatment Hill received, although Hill has called this insufficient because he did not directly address his own role in the matter.