The Right is having a field day with this. Despite the hypocrisy due to the fact that (in excess of) 25 women have accused Dotard of sexual assault. While Joe Biden has ONE allegation. According to multiple crude comments by Rusty Shackelford (on Lisa's blog) our future president is "Fingerbang Biden".
I say the allegations are suspicious because, in addition to Biden not having a history (over his entire career) of any similar allegations, this is exactly what Dotard admits to on the Access Hollywood tape. That he grabs women by their privates.
So, did this happen? I say (barring any other women stepping forward) no. And that what Tara Reade alleges not happening is what journalists investigating Biden's past are concluding. PBS NewsHour correspondent Lisa Desjardins and PBS NewsHour Senior Political Reporter Daniel Bush talked to people who previously worked for Biden and they all said they never heard of any such allegations. From Reade or anyone else.
YouTube Video Description: Syndicated columnist Mark Shields and New York Times columnist David Brooks join Judy Woodruff to discuss the week's political news, including former Vice President Joe Biden's response to an allegation of sexual assault... [PBS NewsHour]. Excerpts from the posted video transcribed by me.
Judy Woodruff: David, let's go right to what we've just been hearing from Lisa [Desjardins] and Dan Bush in their extensive reporting -- exhaustive reporting -- talking to 74 former Biden staffers -- and coming away with no one saying they were aware of anything like what Tara Reade has alleged. What do you take away from this? David Brooks: I think they've taken us into the Biden office at that time as far as it's possible to go. I think we have a pretty good sense of it. It reveals that Joe Biden is a very transparent person. The culture they describe is certainly the culture I knew when I was covering Senator Biden and the person I know him to be. It raises more skepticism about the claims. I would say this -- there is also a Politico report also looking into Tara Reade's past allegations in other cases -- other parts of her life -- and I think the bottom line is -- if you were a person saying "should this be a problem for... Joe Biden" -- I think the arrow has moved toward this being less of a problem. We don't know that it didn't happen. We can't know that. But certainly the degree of skepticism has to be a little higher because of this report. Judy Woodruff: Mark, you're someone who has covered this city for a long time. ... What do you come away with here? Mark Shields: ...with great admiration for both Lisa and Dand. 74 people on the record is remarkable. That was a couple of hundred calls that they had to make to get there. It does confirm what has been the emerging consensus among political people who don't have a dog in the fight -- and that is -- Joe Biden was 50 years old in 1993 (27 years ago) and suggesting that this was the one and only time in his entire life that he sexually assaulted a woman who has reported it -- it seems increasingly unlikely. Yes, Tara Reade deserves a hearing ... but I thought that was a reasonable conclusion [that it likely did not happen because Biden has no history of such complaints. UNLIKE Dotard]. |
Tara Reade did not make any such allegations against Joe Biden until 3/25/2020. Why not say something sooner? Like when he was chosen as Barack Obama's running mate, for example? Now she says he should withdraw from the race. AFTER he's been selected by the voters as the Democratic nominee. Maybe if she had said something sooner some voters may have decided to vote for Bernie Sanders (who has never had ANY allegations)? Instead she decides to attempt to sabotage Biden when it's too late for the voters to choose anyone else. I'm not buying it.
The only other allegations against Biden are for being overly friendly. Invading women's (and men's) personal space. After the complaints he said he'd be more mindful of other's personal space in the future. btw, initially Reade was one of those people (said Biden invaded her personal space). Only later did she change her story to include allegations of sexual assault.
So far nobody else is saying Biden did anything similar. When a man in a position of power feels entitled to do such things, he usually (always) does it over and over. Like with Dotard and his 25+ accusers. With Dotard there is an established pattern of sexual assault. He has assaulted many women over the span of decades.
Yet Biden only did it once (or only one woman has decided to came forward)? Barring any other accusers coming forward I say this is highly unlikely. Also suspicious, given (as I already said) this is what Dotard has admitted to. On video.
"Always Accuse Your Enemies of Your Own Sins".
btw, the title of the Politico article that David Brooks mentions is "Manipulative, deceitful, user": Tara Reade left a trail of aggrieved acquaintances. As per the article "a number of those who crossed paths with Biden's accuser say they remember two things: She spoke favorably about her time working for Biden, and she left them feeling duped".