Cuomo denies sex harassment claims as White House calls for review
FOX News contributors Lisa Boothe and Leslie Marshall discuss the situation on 'The Story'
EXCLUSIVE: Tara Reade, the author and former Senate staffer who came forward during the 2020 campaign with a sexual assault allegation against Joe Biden, is speaking out in support of Lindsey Boylan after she went public with sexual harassment allegations against New York Gov. Andrew Cuomo.
Reade revealed to Fox News that Boylan was "very supportive" when Reade publically accused Biden of sexual assault last year and the two had been in touch ever since. Reade added that Boylan had alluded to the sexual harassment she faced when she served in the Cuomo administration as a former deputy secretary for economic development and special adviser.
Boylan alleged in an essay published on the website Medium Wednesday that the Democrat governor went "out of his way to touch me on my lower back, arms and legs," forcibly kissed her on the lips during a one-on-one briefing and suggested that they "play strip poker" during a plane ride.
The governor's office has denied Boylan's harassment claims, calling them "simply false" and insisting the strip poker comment "did not happen."
Upon reading Boylan's essay, Reade told Fox News that she identified with the unwanted touching, the "objectification," and the "misogyny in the office" from when she worked for Biden in 1993 as a staffer for the then-senator from Delaware.
"Nothing has changed," Reade said. "These powerful, elite Democrats, the Democratic National Committee, they just circle their wagons around them and allow them to do predatory behavior, enable it, and even reward them."
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Reade, a former lifelong Democrat who released her memoir "Left Out: When the Truth Doesn't Fit In" last fall, called the lack of media coverage of Boylan's claims "deplorable." Reade herself experienced a similar lack of interest in her story from the mainstream media when she came forward in the heat of the 2020 election cycle.
"I think it's a collective collusion of the media with the Democratic Party that's become so systemic and so corrupt that, you know, it's going to take brave people like Lindsey coming forward to tear down that structure," Reade explained. "Sexual misconduct is nonpartisan. Don't hide and protect these people. Call them out. Bring them into the light."
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Reade stressed that the media had "better not investigate" Boylan's background and "not do what happened to me," referring to the reporting of Reade's past that was meant to discredit her claims against Biden.
"Do an investigation into Cuomo's [background]," Reade urged journalists.
Reade hopes that following Boylan coming forward, there will be a "bigger conversation" about not just Cuomo's alleged behavior but "the atmosphere in powerful Democratic offices" regarding sexual misconduct as well.
"Hopefully as they look deeper into Governor Cuomo's misconduct, there will be justice rendered for Lindsey and others that were preyed upon and threatened by him to cover up much of his corruption," Reade said. "But this is, you know, going to the core of our country and we need to stand up as citizens and call this out and hold them accountable for their actions."
She continued, "I support Lindsey and her bravery coming forward. It's a difficult thing to do, particularly because she's still a young professional in the political arena. Everyone knows that when you come up against the Democratic machine and the Democratic National Committee, it can politically end your career. So she took a big risk by coming forward in such a clear way. But I really support her bravery. And I hope that justice is rendered and that Governor Cuomo is held accountable."
In March 2020, Reade alleged that she was sexually assaulted by Biden in 1993. She previously came forward in 2019, along with other women who accused the then-Democratic presidential candidate of inappropriate touching. Biden and his campaign have repeatedly denied her claims.
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Boylan tweeted her support for Reade after she shared her story with progressive podcast host Katie Halper, tweeting "I’ve listened to the @kthalps & @ReadeAlexandra conversation. She is compelling, believable and it’s deeply unsettling. We live in a culture where the powerful can make a dream-filled young woman feel "like an inanimate object not a person." Her story deserves to be heard."
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After Boylan published her claims Wednesday morning, all three major broadcast networks avoided the new Cuomo scandal on their evening news shows. CNN, the home network of Cuomo's brother Chris Cuomo, as well as MSNBC also avoided any on-air coverage the entire day.
Both CNN and MSNBC only began covering the scandal on Thursday, roughly 24 hours after Boylan came forward with her allegations.