Will Tara Reade's claims impact the 2020 presidential race?
Biden campaign denies sexual assault allegation; Fox News contributor Karl Rove, former White House deputy chief of staff under President George W. Bush, and Chris Hahn, syndicated radio host and former aide to Sen. Chuck Schumer, join the debate.
Donna Brazile has known former Vice President Joe Biden for a long time.
And the former chairwoman of the Democratic National Committee and Fox News contributor predicts that Biden will personally respond to allegations that he sexually assaulted a staffer more than a quarter-century ago, when he was a Delaware senator.
"I believe that he will address it," Brazile told Fox News’ Bill Hemmer. "Look, his campaign has addressed it. The people who speak on his behalf have addressed it. And I’m sure, whenever he is asked the question, he will address it.”
THE LATEST FROM FOX NEWS ON THE TARA READE CONTROVERSY
Biden – the Democrats' presumptive presidential nominee – has yet to be questioned during any interview about the allegations leveled against him by former staffer Tara Reade. Biden’s campaign has strongly denied the claims by Reade, but the candidate himself has not personally discussed it.
This, even as individuals have come forward to say that Reade at least described the alleged incident to them years ago. A resurfaced 1993 clip of a woman said to be Reade's mother calling into Larry King's CNN show and talking about her daughter's "problems" in Washington also gave new life to the accusation -- in turn, leading to pressure on Biden to say something.
"I personally know Joe Biden," Brazile said Tuesday. "And, I do believe that he will be able to tell his truth just like Ms. Reade has been able to tell her truth on several occasions."
Brazile – who managed Vice President Al Gore’s 2000 presidential campaign – emphasized that "whether it’s what we heard during the Brett Kavanaugh hearings, or what we heard during the Trump campaign, or what we heard about several other men, that we allow women to speak up and have their voices heard."
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Lis Smith, a veteran of former President Barack Obama’s 2012 reelection campaign and former Maryland Gov. Martin O’Malley's 2016 presidential bid who was one of the masterminds behind Pete Buttigieg's dramatic surge in the 2020 Democratic nomination race, emphasized that the timing's critical.
"These accusations have not been found to be credible, so it's in the Biden campaign's interest to nip this in the bud and do it quickly," Smith told Fox News.
Mo Elleithee, the founding executive director of Georgetown University's Institute of Politics and Public Service and a Fox News contributor, also believes Biden will say something about the allegations.
"His campaign's addressed it. I have no doubt he will likely be asked about it and he'll address and people will decide from there," Elleithee, a senior spokesman for Hillary Clinton's 2008 presidential campaign who later served as communications director for the Democratic National Committee, said Wednesday.
An official from another top-tier Democratic presidential campaign whose former boss competed against Biden for months is calling on the former vice president to directly address Tara Reade's allegations:
"I think character assassinations don't work with Joe Biden because people come into it already knowing him and having an opinion one way or another," the official told Fox News. "That being said, he needs it to be 'asked and answered.'"
Another Democratic strategist and veteran of presidential campaigns took direct aim at Biden for his handling of the accusation, saying: "I think it’s cowardly to hide behind your staffers to make the case you're a good man who doesn't do bad things. The [Biden] campaign strategy to protect their boss comes straight out of a 90’s playbook that was supposed to be outdated in the #MeToo era."
The strategist, who asked to remain anonymous to speak more freely, urged: "Biden has to go on television and say, 'I didn't do this.' Then, deal with the hard questions that follow... and weather Trump's attacks. That's what leadership looks like. The campaign is no better than the bad guys when it puts winning over what’s right."
A female strategist and veteran of Democratic presidential campaigns went even further: "I think he's in deep trouble because this is not going away."
The operative, who also asked for anonymity, said: "personally, I think he should stand aside, but I know he’s not going to do that. So I think that he needs to address it."
But a longtime Democratic consultant disagreed.
"I don't think he needs to confront this head-on at this point because it's still highly questionable whether it's truthful or not," argued the consultant, who also asked to remain anonymous. "I think he needs to be prepared if it continues to linger, but I don't think we're at a point where he needs to address it publicly. His campaign's already said it's untrue and I don’t know what more you can say."
Fox News also spoke with Democratic consultant Meredith Kelly, who said: "I do expect that Joe Biden will ultimately address this himself, and will forcefully reiterate his assertion that this isn’t true."
Kelly, a former spokeswoman for Senate Democratic Leader Chuck Schumer who ran communications last year for Sen. Kirsten Gillibrand's presidential campaign, stressed that “the Biden campaign has been respectful of Tara Reade’s allegations and actively encouraged the press to investigate and clear his name, which is an extremely important step as we build more respect for women in the workplace."
Reade previously had accused Biden of inappropriate touching last year before her story resurfaced in an article in The Intercept on March 24. Podcast host Katie Halper then interviewed Reade, which is when she made the more serious allegation that Biden, in 1993, "penetrated me with his fingers and he was kissing me at the same time and he was saying some things to me."
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The Biden campaign denied it.
"What is clear about this claim: it is untrue. This absolutely did not happen," Deputy Campaign Manager Kate Bedingfield said.
Fox News' Peter Doocy and Patrick Ward contributed to this report.
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