For several days after the allegations of sexual assault against Joe Biden were first made public, most media didn’t want to touch it.
Perhaps it’s because he’s the presumptive Democratic nominee who will be facing the disaster (and full-on accused rapist) Donald Trump in November? Maybe it really has been wariness about the allegations? Tara Reade‘s story changed over time, she publicly praised Biden in 2017, and her writings in support of Vladimir Putin, a man known to be attacking our elections, are extremely worrisome.
However, over the past couple weeks more information has come out, including contemporaneous witnesses who say Reade told them about the assault at the time. That sort of thing is very important in these cases of he said/she said.
Related: Rose McGowan Blasts Alyssa Milano Over Biden Allegations
Pressure has been building among Democrat voters, who have been supporting women throughout the #MeToo movement, including Dr. Christine Blasey Ford during the controversial Brett Kavanaugh hearings. This feels to many like it’s being swept under the rug or just flat-out ignored.
Somewhere along the line we hit the tipping point where reporters are asking top Democrats about the allegations, so Biden’s team clearly thought the best policy was to have their man go on TV and answer them directly, not in a written statement, but under questioning from a journalist.
This is the type of thing that can destroy people; Prince Andrew infamously thought it was a good idea to explain his sweat gland alibi to the BBC audience and came across so unbelievable he was basically found guilty in the court of public opinion that night!
The result for Biden… remains controversial.
The former VP appeared on Morning Joe on Friday where Mika Brzezinski asked him multiple times about various details of the accusation. Mika has since been lambasted for being too hard on Biden and not hard enough; likewise she has been praised by others for the same thing. We’ll let YOU decide.
Here is a partial transcript of key parts of that interview (which you can find in full (below):
Mika: So, the former Senate aide accuses you of sexual assault. And please, to our viewers, please excuse the graphic nature of this, but I want to make sure that there is no question as to what we’re talking about. She says in 1993, Mr. Vice President, that you pinned her against the wall and reached under her clothing and penetrated her with your fingers. Would you please go on the record with the American people? Did you sexually assault Tara Reade?
Biden: No, it is not true. I am saying unequivocally it never, never happened, and it didn’t. It never happened.
That is certainly unequivocal. But Mika dug deeper:
Mika: Do you remember her? Do you remember any — any types of complaints that she might have made?
Biden: I don’t remember any type of complaint she may have made. It was 27 years ago, and I don’t remember, nor does anyone else that I’m aware of, and the fact is that I don’t remember. I don’t remember any complaint ever having been made.
Mika then turned to what comes next, how Biden can be more transparent about all this:
Mika: The New York Times has investigated this exhaustively. They didn’t find any of your former staff members who were able to corroborate the details of this allegation. She did file a police report a few weeks ago with the D.C. police. But since you want to set the record straight, why limit this only to Tara Reade? Why not release any complaints that had been made against you during your Senate career?
Biden: I’m prepared to do that. To the best of my knowledge, there’s been no complaints made against me in terms of my Senate career, in terms of my office. Look, this is an open book. There’s nothing for me to hide. Nothing at all.
Most divisively, Mika held Biden’s denial up against his support of Dr. Ford and other women in the #MeToo movement:
Mika: You were unequivocal, Mr. Vice President, back in 2018 during the Kavanaugh controversy and hearings, and you said that women should be believed. You said this: “For a woman to come forward in the glaring lights of focus nationally, you’ve got to start off with the presumption that at least the essence of what she is talking about is real, whether or not she forgets the facts, whether or not it’s been made worse or better over time.” She’s going to be going on national television on Sunday. Tara Reade is coming forward in the glaring lights, to use your words. Should we not start off with the presumption that the essence of what she’s talking about is real? She says you sexually assaulted her.
Biden: Look, from the very beginning, I’ve said believing women means taking the woman’s claim seriously when she steps forward, and then vet it. Look into it. That’s true in this case as well. Women have a right to be heard, and the press should rigorously investigate claims they make. I’ll always uphold that principle. But in the end, in every case, the truth is what matters. And in this case, the truth is the claims are false.
No matter how many times Mika asked, Biden didn’t question Reade’s motives, as many have. He insisted she had the right to be heard — but also that none of what she said happened really did.
Mika: If you could speak directly to Tara Reade about her claims or anything, what would you say?
Biden: I would — this never, ever happened. I don’t know what is motivating her. I don’t know what — I don’t know what’s behind any of it. But it’s irrelevant. It never happened. It never happened, period. I’m not going to start questioning her, her motive. I’m not going to get into that. I’m not going to start — I’m not going to go after Tara Reade for saying these things. It’s simple: What are the facts? Do any of the things she’s said, do they add up? It never happened.
What do YOU make of all this, Perezcious readers? Watch Biden’s full
[Image via MSNBC/YouTube.]
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