Media top headlines August 18
In media news today, a top Biden aide says he won't 'comment on hypotheticals' when asked if Americans will be left in Afghanistan, a journalist who witnessed the fall of Saigon reacts to the situation in Afghanistan, and Twitter faces scrutiny as Taliban fighters continue using the Big Tech platform
Tara Reade, the former Senate staffer who alleged last year that Joe Biden sexually assaulted her in 1993, is threatening to take legal action against The Washington Post over a report that declared her claims against the current president were "not corroborated."
"To say there was no corroboration and to dismiss me and erase me, that was bias. And I think they need to be called out for their bias," Reade told Fox News in an interview.
Last month, the Post published a report about the Medicare-for-all movement ahead of nationwide demonstrations that took place pushing the progressive agenda. Reade was slated to speak at the Los Angeles rally.
The report quoted Ricky Dunlop, an activist who the Post credits "helped conceive of the March for M4A rallies," alleging that Reade was "not allowed to talk about Biden."
Reade told Fox News she was never told by anyone that talking about the president was off-limits and she herself had never spoken with Dunlop.
In fact, she did in fact mention Biden multiple times in her speech.
"I was a young staffer in 1993 and I worked for Joe Biden," Reade told the LA crowd. "And I can tell you he is not interested in consent, he is not interested in your healthcare. He is funded by Big Pharma and by the healthcare lobby. And when I came forward in 1993, I lost my healthcare, I was a federal employee. As a sexual assault survivor, losing your healthcare when you come forward in a job… losing that is pivotal- and losing benefits, it's really, super hard."
"When you elect a predator to the highest office in the land who's funded by other predators, you're not going to get anything with healthcare," Reade later added.
However, Reade was taken aback by another claim published in the Post's report, which read in parentheses, "Biden denied Reade's allegations, which were not corroborated after reporters dug into them."
Except for many news outlets, including The Washington Post, have spoken with several individuals who were able to contemporaneously corroborate Reade's allegations in varying degrees. Both the Post and the New York Times spoke with Reade's friend, who anonymously confirmed she was told about the alleged Biden assault at the time it happened. Journalist Rich McHugh spoke with two people, a former neighbor as well as a former colleague, who also vouched for Reade. Her brother also spoke to the press.
Additionally, a 1996 court document surfaced showing Reade's ex-husband was told about the "sexual harassment" she allegedly experienced while working for then-Sen. Biden. Also, a 1993 "Larry King Live" clip went viral showing Reade's mother dialing into the program regarding the "problems" her daughter had been facing involving a "prominent senator."
Reade sent an email to Sally Buzbee, the paper's executive editor, as well as Dave Weigel, the Washington Post reporter who wrote the story, to push back against what was alleged in the report.
"This is to advise you that your newspaper again engaged in slandering me," Reade began the July 27 email obtained by Fox News. "I was sexually assaulted by Joe Biden in 1993 and there are in fact corroborating witnesses. There is a filed sexual harassment complaint and a police report. As well as witnesses that went on the record. It was also falsely reported I was ‘not allowed’ to mention Joe Biden in a speech at the LA rally for Medicare 4 All. I was given no such restriction."
"The blatant way your newspaper has stated the sexual assault I endured from Joe Biden in 1993 while his staff is damaging to my reputation and done with malicious intent to discredit me," Reade wrote. "There has never been any criminal investigation into Joe Biden and no conclusion ever made. Please correct these two blatant misstatements of facts immediately."
After receiving no email response from Buzbee and Weigel, Reade made contact with Weigel by phone the next day.
Reade said Weigel, who never contacted her for his report, came off as "kind of dismissive" and "didn't have good intent" even as she listed various journalists who reported contemporaneous corroboration of her claims.
While she said Weigel "acknowledged" that the Dunlop comment was false, Reade was doubtful that any changes would be made despite his assertion that he would discuss her complaints to his editors.
"He was just, like, looking for any angle to negate [my allegation]," Reade told Fox News. "I said, 'That was a malfeasance for you to print something that's not factual.' And he said, ‘Well, I heard you out but we’re not changing anything, probably.' And then I never heard from him again."
"I could tell he didn't want to go down the road in believing my claim," Reade added. "His tone was just smug and then very dismissive. By the end of it, I think that's why I was so upset is because I could just tell he wasn't going to do anything. I don't even know if he really took it to his editors."
Credit: Darin Hayes Photography
Reade thought it is "important" to hold The Washington Post accountable, which is why she's heavily considering legal action.
"They're a legacy newspaper that's supposed to be built on the truth… and they're not printing the truth," Reade said. "I think it's important because I'm just a regular person, but I was coming up against a powerful machine…. I think the reason they go after me is because they know I'm not wealthy, they know I'm not connected and I'm pushing back. And I'm gonna seek every legal remedy."
"I'm not gonna take it anymore. I'm not gonna be erased and I'm not gonna let legacy media write more lies about me. I want to put them all on notice. This stops. I'm tired of being their, you know, their whipping girl, so to speak," she continued.
Reade argued sexual assault survivors "should not be treated like criminals" by the media when they come forward against "someone powerful."
"I feel like the tactic is to intimidate, dismiss and erase. And I'm fighting back. And I will continue to do so," she added.
Neither Weigel nor the Post responded to Fox News' requests for comment.
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Reade, who wrote the memoir "Left Out: When the Truth Doesn't Fit In" about her experience coming forward with her assault allegation, was one of eight women who came forward in 2019 to accuse the then-Democratic candidate of inappropriate touching.
A year later, Reade revealed her sexual assault claim on "The Katie Halper Show." Biden repeatedly denied her claims on the campaign trail.