Tara Reade Biden allegation megathread

[Bidenworth2020]

Nathan J Robinson is beside himself.  Driving around downtown Santa Cruz begging (thru texts) for the address to LaCasse's home.

Can someone provide the Nathan Robinson details? He allegedly coached LaCasse?

I mean, I imagine being Reade's personal press secretary means he has to deal with this kind of thing. Part of the job description, right?

[Bidenworth2020]

https://twitter.com/sarahmucha/status/1256404280875114499

Was NOT expecting this.

[GeneralMacArthur]

Nathan J Robinson is beside himself.  Driving around downtown Santa Cruz begging (thru texts) for the address to LaCasse's home.

Can someone provide the Nathan Robinson details? He allegedly coached LaCasse?

My post is an old NBA meme about DeAndre Jordan.  I don't think there's actually a connection between Robinson and LaCasse.

Robinson definitely coached Tara's brother.  Remember how he initially said he only remembered Tara telling him about the shoulder-touching, then had to text WaPo and ABC back a few days later when he was cured of his amnesia?  In those few days, Robinson got in touch with him to coach him.  Robinson bragged about this on Twitter, then later deleted the tweets.

[Dr Oz Lost Party!]

https://twitter.com/isaacdovere/status/1256383907114729472?s=21

[Libertas Vel Mors]

Anyone who thinks this is anything but a smear: :Clown:

[pppolitics]

https://twitter.com/sarahmucha/status/1256404280875114499

Was NOT expecting this.

It's smart.

If Biden can prove that Reade is lying, Trump can weaponize that against the 20 women that are accusing him of sexual misconduct.

[Morning in Atlas]

Jesus, can you guys chill out? This story looks bad now, but Biden is getting ahead of it now and being transparent. It isn't true, and it could very well be out of headlines next month.

It certainly helps that Biden is cooperating with the investigation, allowing it to take its course instead of trying to suppress any and all discussion (take notes, #KHive), and generally not acting like a guilty party.

[CookieDamage]

Jesus, can you guys chill out? This story looks bad now, but Biden is getting ahead of it now and being transparent. It isn't true, and it could very well be out of headlines next month.

It certainly helps that Biden is cooperating with the investigation, allowing it to take its course instead of trying to suppress any and all discussion (take notes, #KHive), and generally not acting like a guilty party.

What investigation?

[Morning in Atlas]

Jesus, can you guys chill out? This story looks bad now, but Biden is getting ahead of it now and being transparent. It isn't true, and it could very well be out of headlines next month.

It certainly helps that Biden is cooperating with the investigation, allowing it to take its course instead of trying to suppress any and all discussion (take notes, #KHive), and generally not acting like a guilty party.

What investigation?

In a colloquial sense of the word, the media's investigation of what happened.

[○∙◄☻¥tπ[╪AV┼cVê└]

These people at rose twitter really scare me. Their hate and religious-like fanaticism can only be rivaled by the most extreme elements of Trump's base.

Also even if things got so bad that Biden had to drop out, do we really think that Biden's delegates would pick Sanders for the nomination? Of course not.

Exactly. Biden's delegates plus those of Buttigieg, Klobuchar and Bloomberg would not go for Sanders and at best Warren's would split 50-50.

They should if they want the Democratic Party to have any chance in November under this circumstance. If it comes down to this Biden ought to instruct his released delegates to vote for Sanders, the runner-up, and compromise with him being paired with Biden's already vetted running mate pick. It's becoming clear that we have to give the left what they want, and if they fail us in November it's on them at that point.

I'm starting to think that this is what needs to happen. I'm going to give Biden one more month. If his favorability and polling starts declining because of the media now giving the accusations more attention or because they are developing and snowballing more as COVID news gets stale-including the reporting of potential new accusations-then he has to go! It isn't worth the risk at that point to me.

I'm giving him a month because he probably won't clinch the nomination, if things continue as they are, until June and the convention thankfully isn't until August. If the situation starts looking dire enough then there is enough time for public pressure to mount for him to drop out. Perhaps a convention where Sanders becomes the inevitable inheritor of the nomination can salvage our party and our chances in November after what will have been some wasted time. That time is spent better wasted with no nominee than with Biden's entire candidacy being dogged by the allegations as they reinforce negative perceptions of him, making the Democratic Party look like hypocritical opportunists, and overshadowing what is otherwise his very winnable message. Let's face it, the zeitgeist just isn't on his side here; and he will not be able to get away with even the least of what Trump has. Republicans and the right are immune to self-awareness and an understanding of their hypocrisy. Any anti-Trump voter, Democrat, red avatar, etc. who is doing mental gymnastics to put themselves in a state of denial over how much Reade has flipped this election on its head are doing a disservice to themselves and the country by clearly not learning from 2016.  

I hate this f***ing timeline. It really does feel like we're in an apocalyptic dystopia at this point.

Why should the second place finisher just be handed the nomination? Without rehashing the primary there are plenty of liabilities that Sanders has that would make him a guaranteed loser. And in the grand scheme of things Sanders has limited appeal as the primary showed and his strategy of turning out 18-25 year old voters did not materialize.

With that said, you reading far too much into this. Even Reade has flipped and denies that she reported a sexual assault after Biden called for the release of the record. I really don't think she was counting on that.

Well, I've been wondering lately what would have happened if this allegation came out during the primary when it was more competitive. Perhaps Sanders could have had the winning coalition he wanted at that point as voters may have soured on Biden. The same may be true now, there might be buyer's remorse among some who voted for Biden and would consider, or at least tolerate Sanders now. I kind of wish it did then the Democratic voters could have had their say about what they think of it, and maybe it would have been over and done with earlier. And I'm surprised it didn't, especially with Reade being a Sanders supporter. One way or the other, none of this is on my hands as New Jersey's primary hasn't happened yet.

And I do tend to over-analyze things. It's one of my many, many faults. I am trying to be as reasonable as possible though. Like I said, I'm going to see how this story develops over the next month before I am actually convinced of the doomsday scenario I envisioned.

Sanders only has support of ~30% of the party.

Even if Biden didn't run at all, someone else would have consolidated the vote for 70% of the party.

Fact of the matter is that Sanders doesn't have broad support of the party.

That's not the way it works. Minorities weren't going to vote for Warren, Pete, or Klobuchar. Maybe Bloomberg would get a fair amount of minorites, but not enough to stop Bernie from being in first place.

[7,052,770]

https://twitter.com/sarahmucha/status/1256404280875114499

Was NOT expecting this.

It fits in line with the Republican angle being to discredit Me Too and possibly, if this story persists, use it as a tool to get the UD papers released, or at least create a scandal about it. Both right and leftwing trolls and bots are trying to destroy Biden with this, but among named, prominent people, it's really only Bernie Bros that are trying to get the world to believe that Biden is guilty of this.

Yep, in the long run, it's a much better strategy for Republicans to squash #MeToo for good than it is for them to use it to squash Biden.

[CookieDamage]

This is not gonna squash MeToo. I find Reade's story to be BS but the whole movement aint gonna come crashing down. But I'm sure thats the GOP's wish.

[#TheShadowyAbyss]

https://twitter.com/LizMair/status/1256383173929377799

[Fuzzy Bear]

Left speechless?

https://mobile.twitter.com/GravelInstitute/status/1256206740061732864

You support Trump! Your pushing of the already debunked narrative is honestly breathtaking hypocrisy.

Debunked by who?  The anti-Trump media?

There is as much evidence against Biden right now as there was against Kavanaugh.  It takes a lot of intellectual honesty to deny that.

[HagridOfTheDeep]

https://twitter.com/isaacdovere/status/1256383907114729472?s=21

Cringeworthy.

I'm struggling immensely with the "believe all women" principle. I really don't know what it's like to have someone rape me. I really don't know what it's like to face the threat of others smearing me or gaslighting me for speaking up. I really don't know what it's like to even begin to speak this kind of truth. I want to be able to believe because it's pretty obvious society hasn't taken these kinds of issues seriously enough, but... it's tough. I see sh-t like this from the neighbour and almost roll my eyes.  

For sure, we owe it to women to hear these stories, treat all accusers with respect, and take allegations seriously. But "believe all women" just isn't compatible with reality. All claims of sexual assault need to at least go through some process of scrutiny don't they? I'm just not sure how we balance everything. And I hate it. I hate that I have to be in a position where I'm made to pass judgment on Tara Reade (which is why I usually just shut up about stuff like this). But from my perspective, it's... challenging to believe her. It could very well be because I just don't want to. There it is.

[Bidenworth2020]

Left speechless?

https://mobile.twitter.com/GravelInstitute/status/1256206740061732864

You support Trump! Your pushing of the already debunked narrative is honestly breathtaking hypocrisy.

Debunked by who?  The anti-Trump media?

There is as much evidence against Biden right now as there was against Kavanaugh.  It takes a lot of intellectual honesty to deny that.

I never said anything about Kavanaugh. The fact is that the poster in question calling for transparency and for Biden to release his (totally irrelevant) UD records when Trump has done no such thing, and in fact has laughed off the question, is incredibly hypocritical. Furthermore, the idea that a Trump supporter would say that these claims need to be investigated yet still support him is honestly breathtaking levels of cognitive dissonance.

[Fuzzy Bear]

https://twitter.com/isaacdovere/status/1256383907114729472?s=21

Cringeworthy.

I'm struggling immensely with the "believe all women" principle. I really don't know what it's like to have someone rape me. I really don't know what it's like to face the threat of others smearing me or gaslighting me for speaking up. I really don't know what it's like to even begin to speak this kind of truth. I want to be able to believe because it's pretty obvious society hasn't taken these kinds of issues seriously enough, but... it's tough. I see sh-t like this from the neighbour and almost roll my eyes.  

For sure, we owe it to women to hear these stories, treat all accusers with respect, and take allegations seriously. But "believe all women" just isn't compatible with reality. All claims of sexual assault need to at least go through some process of scrutiny don't they? I'm just not sure how we balance everything. And I hate it. I hate that I have to be in a position where I'm made to pass judgment on Tara Reade (which is why I usually just shut up about stuff like this). But from my perspective, it's... challenging to believe her. It could very well be because I just don't want to. There it is.

So why is it unreasonable for someone to take your position on Dr. Blasey Ford that you take on Tara Reade?  There is no more evidence to support Dr. Blasey Ford than there is to support Tara Reade.  And there's really no less, either.  They're about at the same level of evidence on behalf of their allegations.
 

[7,052,770]

https://twitter.com/nytimes/status/1256426969262145536

The New York Times says Biden must open up his whole UD archives to see if there's anything about Reade in there.

[AtorBoltox]

It's time for the Biden campaign to go nuclear on Reade

[CookieDamage]

https://twitter.com/nytimes/status/1256426969262145536

The New York Times says Biden must open up his whole UD archives to see if there's anything about Reade in there.

Editorial board wants something to equivocate between biden and trump

[Calthrina950]

https://twitter.com/isaacdovere/status/1256383907114729472?s=21

Cringeworthy.

I'm struggling immensely with the "believe all women" principle. I really don't know what it's like to have someone rape me. I really don't know what it's like to face the threat of others smearing me or gaslighting me for speaking up. I really don't know what it's like to even begin to speak this kind of truth. I want to be able to believe because it's pretty obvious society hasn't taken these kinds of issues seriously enough, but... it's tough. I see sh-t like this from the neighbour and almost roll my eyes.  

For sure, we owe it to women to hear these stories, treat all accusers with respect, and take allegations seriously. But "believe all women" just isn't compatible with reality. All claims of sexual assault need to at least go through some process of scrutiny don't they? I'm just not sure how we balance everything. And I hate it. I hate that I have to be in a position where I'm made to pass judgment on Tara Reade (which is why I usually just shut up about stuff like this). But from my perspective, it's... challenging to believe her. It could very well be because I just don't want to. There it is.

So why is it unreasonable for someone to take your position on Dr. Blasey Ford that you take on Tara Reade?  There is no more evidence to support Dr. Blasey Ford than there is to support Tara Reade.  And there's really no less, either.  They're about at the same level of evidence on behalf of their allegations.
 

I've made a comparison between these two cases previously, and noted how many people on here have tied themselves into a knot to defend Biden, while still legitimizing Blasey Ford, and considering her to be more creditable than Reade. The overall impact of this, however, will be minimal on the election itself, especially given the many accusations that have been made against Trump.

[7,052,770]

https://twitter.com/nytimes/status/1256426969262145536

The New York Times says Biden must open up his whole UD archives to see if there's anything about Reade in there.

Editorial board wants something to equivocate between biden and trump

But they go beyond equivocation, because they don't use the article so say that BOTH Biden and Trump have accusers, so BOTH most open up all their records.

They're just saying Biden needs to do it unilaterally. What a terrible idea.

Like, if the Biden and Trump campaigns agreed to both open up EVERYTHING and let the chips fall, I'd be fine with it. It would be fair. It's not reasonable to ask Biden to do it alone while Trump won't consider it.

[#TheShadowyAbyss]

Remember when Republicans said they would get revenge for Kavanaugh? And then people tried to smear Buttigieg and Warren over sexual assault? This is reminding me of that

[roxas11]

I said it before and I will say it again   

The Moment the News drops about what they did or not find in those national archives
for many that will be the end of this story.

if they find nothing Tara read will be cemented as a liar in the minds on many democrat voters for claiming she filed a complaint to the first place.  her attempt to shift to suddenly caring about Biden files in the University of Delaware is simply not going to be enough to change a lot of people minds that she was not being truthful about filing that complaint in 1993.

if that complain existed is should be in those achieves and not in papers that was given to University of Delaware as a gift from Vice President Biden

It still makes no sense to me that she simply can not get of copy of a paper that said she gave to the senate and it makes even less sense that the only way she can get that complaint is by being going through all of Biden files in the University of Delaware. 

[Mr. Illini]

I actually don’t at all buy the idea that some Republicans are defending Biden as an attempt to save them and theirs from the Me Too movement. Republicans are not at all afraid of double standards - they’d happily trash Biden on this and then vehemently defend their own against any accusations.

Maybe I’m crazy, but I think it’s a lot more sinister. It’s harder to explain with Graham, but with Trump, I think he’s trying to isolate Biden from his own base. The Democratic base sees Trump as an abuser of women. Trump wants Fox to drum up the case against Biden, but he’ll defend Biden because it blurs the distinctions between him and Biden in the minds of the Dem base, therefore hurting enthusiasm/dampening turnout. It makes Biden seem more like Trump.