Biden says Reade sexual assault claim 'never happened' during MSNBC appearance
Joe Biden defends himself for the first time on TV after releasing a statement denying the Tara Reade sexual assault allegation; Geraldo Rivera reacts.
The MSNBC/”Morning Joe” interview with former Vice President and presumptive Democratic nominee for president Joe Biden about the Tara Reade sexual assault allegation was predictable up to a point, and then went off the rails.
Biden reiterated what his campaign has repeatedly said—that the allegation us untrue. While he had hoped to burnish his image with Americans after pressure to personally address the situation, it was Mika Brzezinski emerging as the sole success in the interview. Despite her previously stated admiration and support for Biden, she did more than provide a perfunctory exercise allowing the candidate to deny the assault, then move on.
Her questions were direct and pointed, with her focus highlighted by bringing up his previous statement during the Justice Kavanaugh travesty explaining why accusers should be believed.
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He said at the time, “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’s talking about is real.” His attempt to avoid the ugliness of his obvious hypocrisy on the issue was embarrassing.
At the start, when the questions were predictable, Mr. Biden delivered steady answers mirroring his campaign's statement of denial. But as the interview went on and the questions became more involved, at times he seemed confused.
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Revealed in this interview was his willingness to have the National Archives open up any records they have from the time of Ms. Reade’s employment, but that was overshadowed by his adamant refusal to open up his Senate archive papers being held at the University of Delaware.
Lisa Desjardins, a correspondent at PBS Newshour, tweeted this about his reasoning: “BIDEN: Explaining why his U. Delaware papers are not public, says there are position papers and private notes about his meetings with international leaders, like Putin. Says they could be taken out of context, used against him during a presidential run.”
Yes, he actually said that. As he is defending himself against a credible accusation of sexual assault, he explains he doesn’t want particular records opened because there might be something in there that could be used against him as he runs for president. And he is particularly concerned about conversations with the president of Russia for some reason. You can’t make this up, and it will not be going away.
One thing that I contend was significant and not discussed much in the aftermath of the interview was a question Mr. Biden did not answer. Ms. Brzezinski asked: “Do you remember her? Do you remember any types of complaints she might have made?" His answer? "I don’t remember any type of complaint she may have made."
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Throughout the interview, she was dogged in following through with question and pressing him when he attempted to dodge. But for some reason, not here. His refusal to answer whether or not he remembers her is significant.
If he doesn’t, then that creates a question of whether or not he can be taken seriously when he denies that the assault took place. How could he be sure about that if he doesn’t remember her even working for him? If he does remember her, then that opens up more questions about what he thought of her and their interactions.
Some observers took his avoidance of answering that (and Mika’s choice to not pursue it), combined with his apparent cognitive issues on the campaign trail and in interviews, as an indication that he likely doesn’t remember her at all, which would indeed cast doubt on everything he says he recalls about that time.
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Established was the crucial aspect of Mr. Biden’s (and the Democrats’ in general) rank hypocrisy on this allegation versus their bloodthirsty attempt to destroy Brett Kavanaugh.
After this interview, we do know more than we did before: we know there are things in Mr. Biden’s Delaware archive he doesn’t want any of us to see which he believes could negatively impact his run for the presidency; we know women are to be used and are expendable in the Democrats fight for power; and due process and justice are quaint notions to be handed out only to Democrats and their defenders. It’s a shame, but it makes quite clear what is at stake in the 2020 election.