Tara Reade Biden allegation megathread

[Bidenworth2020]

https://twitter.com/RichMcHugh/status/1258483565328764934

I'm not going to put the video into my post, but Reade tells Megyn Kelly she wants Biden to drop out.

Why would she think it would be smart to say this? Now people are just going to think she is being explicitly political.

[Greedo punched first]

Is Reade's lawyer a member of the Federalist Society?

[💥💥 brandon bro (he/him/his)]

Between the Vox article, cancelling interviews with Chris Wallace and Don Lemon to give an interview to a notorious softball interviewer in Megyn Kelly, and now hiring a pro-Trump lawyer it’s really hard not to argue that MacArthur had this right all along

The interviews are consistent with a person who experienced a traumatic injury being nervous and afraid of reprisal. They aren't evidence of lying.

[CookieDamage]

Between the Vox article, cancelling interviews with Chris Wallace and Don Lemon to give an interview to a notorious softball interviewer in Megyn Kelly, and now hiring a pro-Trump lawyer it’s really hard not to argue that MacArthur had this right all along

The interviews are consistent with a person who experienced a traumatic injury being nervous and afraid of reprisal. They aren't evidence of lying.

I mean they aren't evidence but I am not at all convinced that this is indicative of a fearful and traumatized person. Changing her story in pretty substantial ways and what looks like getting her friends and neighbors to say what she wants them to say does not strike me as "oh she's traumatized and fearful"

[Bidenworth2020]

Between the Vox article, cancelling interviews with Chris Wallace and Don Lemon to give an interview to a notorious softball interviewer in Megyn Kelly, and now hiring a pro-Trump lawyer it’s really hard not to argue that MacArthur had this right all along

The interviews are consistent with a person who experienced a traumatic injury being nervous and afraid of reprisal. They aren't evidence of lying.

What? She literally told all of her friends that it was JUST the stuff described in her 2019 account, and then a year later they all flipped and said it was exactly what Reade described. All of this while being desperate for attention for the first story.

[Hindsight was 2020]

Between the Vox article, cancelling interviews with Chris Wallace and Don Lemon to give an interview to a notorious softball interviewer in Megyn Kelly, and now hiring a pro-Trump lawyer it’s really hard not to argue that MacArthur had this right all along

The interviews are consistent with a person who experienced a traumatic injury being nervous and afraid of reprisal. They aren't evidence of lying.

The interviews are also consistent with someone who is lying and coached there witnesses to lie as well. I would of loved to give her the benefit of the doubt but there are two big dealbreakers for me. First, as we see in the vox article she keeps lying about how media outlets have been treating her. Second, was the flip flop on what her complaint said

[💥💥 brandon bro (he/him/his)]

Between the Vox article, cancelling interviews with Chris Wallace and Don Lemon to give an interview to a notorious softball interviewer in Megyn Kelly, and now hiring a pro-Trump lawyer it’s really hard not to argue that MacArthur had this right all along

The interviews are consistent with a person who experienced a traumatic injury being nervous and afraid of reprisal. They aren't evidence of lying.

I mean they aren't evidence but I am not at all convinced that this is indicative of a fearful and traumatized person. Changing her story in pretty substantial ways and what looks like getting her friends and neighbors to say what she wants them to say does not strike me as "oh she's traumatized and fearful"

The evolving story is the main reason I'm inclined to not accept her story right now, but isn't enough to convince me that she is lying. The people who dredge up tweets or her interview schedule her political opinions as evidence of some sort of bad intentions are leaving out a suite of alternative explanations and aren't proving anything other than that it's very difficult, if you are a victim of sexual assault, to be taken seriously regardless of what the truth is.

[Bomster]

I don't want to call Reade a liar. I feel it is both unfair to call Biden a rapist (if you believe Reade) or to call Reade a liar (if you don't believe Reade, which tbh I don't). However, there are a plethora of things to feel skeptical about with this whole business, and honestly I wish more people were mindful of them.

[pppolitics]

Between the Vox article, cancelling interviews with Chris Wallace and Don Lemon to give an interview to a notorious softball interviewer in Megyn Kelly, and now hiring a pro-Trump lawyer it’s really hard not to argue that MacArthur had this right all along

The interviews are consistent with a person who experienced a traumatic injury being nervous and afraid of reprisal. They aren't evidence of lying.

I mean they aren't evidence but I am not at all convinced that this is indicative of a fearful and traumatized person. Changing her story in pretty substantial ways and what looks like getting her friends and neighbors to say what she wants them to say does not strike me as "oh she's traumatized and fearful"

The evolving story is the main reason I'm inclined to not accept her story right now, but isn't enough to convince me that she is lying. The people who dredge up tweets or her interview schedule her political opinions as evidence of some sort of bad intentions are leaving out a suite of alternative explanations and aren't proving anything other than that it's very difficult, if you are a victim of sexual assault, to be taken seriously regardless of what the truth is.

The truth only has one version.

If she tells more than one version, she is lying.

[CookieDamage]

Between the Vox article, cancelling interviews with Chris Wallace and Don Lemon to give an interview to a notorious softball interviewer in Megyn Kelly, and now hiring a pro-Trump lawyer it’s really hard not to argue that MacArthur had this right all along

The interviews are consistent with a person who experienced a traumatic injury being nervous and afraid of reprisal. They aren't evidence of lying.

I mean they aren't evidence but I am not at all convinced that this is indicative of a fearful and traumatized person. Changing her story in pretty substantial ways and what looks like getting her friends and neighbors to say what she wants them to say does not strike me as "oh she's traumatized and fearful"

The evolving story is the main reason I'm inclined to not accept her story right now, but isn't enough to convince me that she is lying. The people who dredge up tweets or her interview schedule her political opinions as evidence of some sort of bad intentions are leaving out a suite of alternative explanations and aren't proving anything other than that it's very difficult, if you are a victim of sexual assault, to be taken seriously regardless of what the truth is.

How can an evolving story coming from anyone not convince you that they are lying???

[Bidenworth2020]

Between the Vox article, cancelling interviews with Chris Wallace and Don Lemon to give an interview to a notorious softball interviewer in Megyn Kelly, and now hiring a pro-Trump lawyer it’s really hard not to argue that MacArthur had this right all along

The interviews are consistent with a person who experienced a traumatic injury being nervous and afraid of reprisal. They aren't evidence of lying.

I mean they aren't evidence but I am not at all convinced that this is indicative of a fearful and traumatized person. Changing her story in pretty substantial ways and what looks like getting her friends and neighbors to say what she wants them to say does not strike me as "oh she's traumatized and fearful"

The evolving story is the main reason I'm inclined to not accept her story right now, but isn't enough to convince me that she is lying. The people who dredge up tweets or her interview schedule her political opinions as evidence of some sort of bad intentions are leaving out a suite of alternative explanations and aren't proving anything other than that it's very difficult, if you are a victim of sexual assault, to be taken seriously regardless of what the truth is.

People keep saying this, and I am getting really sick of it. She HAS been taken seriously, more than she has had any right to be if we look at the evidence supporting her case. She quite literally said explicitly last year that it wasn't sexualization. When that was largely dismissed due to a lack of people caring, she comes out with this. That just is not the normal behavior of assault victims.

[pppolitics]

Between the Vox article, cancelling interviews with Chris Wallace and Don Lemon to give an interview to a notorious softball interviewer in Megyn Kelly, and now hiring a pro-Trump lawyer it’s really hard not to argue that MacArthur had this right all along

The interviews are consistent with a person who experienced a traumatic injury being nervous and afraid of reprisal. They aren't evidence of lying.

I mean they aren't evidence but I am not at all convinced that this is indicative of a fearful and traumatized person. Changing her story in pretty substantial ways and what looks like getting her friends and neighbors to say what she wants them to say does not strike me as "oh she's traumatized and fearful"

The evolving story is the main reason I'm inclined to not accept her story right now, but isn't enough to convince me that she is lying. The people who dredge up tweets or her interview schedule her political opinions as evidence of some sort of bad intentions are leaving out a suite of alternative explanations and aren't proving anything other than that it's very difficult, if you are a victim of sexual assault, to be taken seriously regardless of what the truth is.

The truth only has one version.

If she tells more than one version, she is lying.

[💥💥 brandon bro (he/him/his)]

Between the Vox article, cancelling interviews with Chris Wallace and Don Lemon to give an interview to a notorious softball interviewer in Megyn Kelly, and now hiring a pro-Trump lawyer it’s really hard not to argue that MacArthur had this right all along

The interviews are consistent with a person who experienced a traumatic injury being nervous and afraid of reprisal. They aren't evidence of lying.

I mean they aren't evidence but I am not at all convinced that this is indicative of a fearful and traumatized person. Changing her story in pretty substantial ways and what looks like getting her friends and neighbors to say what she wants them to say does not strike me as "oh she's traumatized and fearful"

The evolving story is the main reason I'm inclined to not accept her story right now, but isn't enough to convince me that she is lying. The people who dredge up tweets or her interview schedule her political opinions as evidence of some sort of bad intentions are leaving out a suite of alternative explanations and aren't proving anything other than that it's very difficult, if you are a victim of sexual assault, to be taken seriously regardless of what the truth is.

How can an evolving story coming from anyone not convince you that they are lying???

Okay, my wording was imprecise. Obviously it is impossible for mutually exclusive stories to simultaneously be true. In this sense, at least one of them is not true. This is why I do not accept any of her claims at face value right now and need more solid evidence or corroboration before I can accept any of them.

However, telling multiple mutually exclusive stories does not mean that none of them can be correct, just that not all of them can be correct. Which one is the truth, if any, and which are the lies? Anybody on this forum who claims to know the truth, especially if their evidence is as self-evidently flimsy as being a Sanders supporter, is lying, which was my original point. Most of what she is alleging is very crass but not worthy of removing Biden from the ticket if true. But I'm not going to dismiss all of what she says as a lie because she isn't a perfect victim.

[roxas11]

https://twitter.com/RichMcHugh/status/1258483565328764934

I'm not going to put the video into my post, but Reade tells Megyn Kelly she wants Biden to drop out. [

[wbrocks67]

Between the Vox article, cancelling interviews with Chris Wallace and Don Lemon to give an interview to a notorious softball interviewer in Megyn Kelly, and now hiring a pro-Trump lawyer it’s really hard not to argue that MacArthur had this right all along

The interviews are consistent with a person who experienced a traumatic injury being nervous and afraid of reprisal. They aren't evidence of lying.

I mean they aren't evidence but I am not at all convinced that this is indicative of a fearful and traumatized person. Changing her story in pretty substantial ways and what looks like getting her friends and neighbors to say what she wants them to say does not strike me as "oh she's traumatized and fearful"

The evolving story is the main reason I'm inclined to not accept her story right now, but isn't enough to convince me that she is lying. The people who dredge up tweets or her interview schedule her political opinions as evidence of some sort of bad intentions are leaving out a suite of alternative explanations and aren't proving anything other than that it's very difficult, if you are a victim of sexual assault, to be taken seriously regardless of what the truth is.

Given what her tweets have looked like, it's very hard to take her seriously on anything tbh. It's also hard to take her not being political now that she's explicitly saying he should drop out.

She's also very obsessed with the spotlight, and the media, and then straight up lying about them. Reade is not giving people a lot of reasons to give her the benefit of the doubt.

One of the reasons Blasey Ford was believed was because nothing about her screamed political. She wasn't partisan, she wasn't running to Megyn Kelly, she wasn't trying to get interviews, she wasn't on social media. She had her story, wanted to tell it, and that was it. Reade is acting a complete 180 here. Not all victims act the same, of course, but her behavior is just getting ridiculous. She literally hired a Trump lackey as her representation.

[💥💥 brandon bro (he/him/his)]

Between the Vox article, cancelling interviews with Chris Wallace and Don Lemon to give an interview to a notorious softball interviewer in Megyn Kelly, and now hiring a pro-Trump lawyer it’s really hard not to argue that MacArthur had this right all along

The interviews are consistent with a person who experienced a traumatic injury being nervous and afraid of reprisal. They aren't evidence of lying.

I mean they aren't evidence but I am not at all convinced that this is indicative of a fearful and traumatized person. Changing her story in pretty substantial ways and what looks like getting her friends and neighbors to say what she wants them to say does not strike me as "oh she's traumatized and fearful"

The evolving story is the main reason I'm inclined to not accept her story right now, but isn't enough to convince me that she is lying. The people who dredge up tweets or her interview schedule her political opinions as evidence of some sort of bad intentions are leaving out a suite of alternative explanations and aren't proving anything other than that it's very difficult, if you are a victim of sexual assault, to be taken seriously regardless of what the truth is.

Given what her tweets have looked like, it's very hard to take her seriously on anything tbh. It's also hard to take her not being political now that she's explicitly saying he should drop out.

She's also very obsessed with the spotlight, and the media, and then straight up lying about them. Reade is not giving people a lot of reasons to give her the benefit of the doubt.

One of the reasons Blasey Ford was believed was because nothing about her screamed political. She wasn't partisan, she wasn't running to Megyn Kelly, she wasn't trying to get interviews, she wasn't on social media. She had her story, wanted to tell it, and that was it. Reade is acting a complete 180 here. Not all victims act the same, of course, but her behavior is just getting ridiculous. She literally hired a Trump lackey as her representation.

My point is that there is nothing mutually exclusive about being "political" and being a victim of sexual assault. If I was assaulted and I saw the perpetrator within arms reach of the Presidency, I would also try to stop him.

Many (but not all) of the expectations people are placing on her are unfair and independent of the truth of her claim. That doesn't mean there aren't other criticisms which are fair. These are the criticisms I respect. But the people who point to "tick tock" tweets as some sort of incontrovertable evidence are making the atmosphere for actual assault victims much worse.

[CellarDoor]

Between the Vox article, cancelling interviews with Chris Wallace and Don Lemon to give an interview to a notorious softball interviewer in Megyn Kelly, and now hiring a pro-Trump lawyer it’s really hard not to argue that MacArthur had this right all along

The interviews are consistent with a person who experienced a traumatic injury being nervous and afraid of reprisal. They aren't evidence of lying.

I mean they aren't evidence but I am not at all convinced that this is indicative of a fearful and traumatized person. Changing her story in pretty substantial ways and what looks like getting her friends and neighbors to say what she wants them to say does not strike me as "oh she's traumatized and fearful"

The evolving story is the main reason I'm inclined to not accept her story right now, but isn't enough to convince me that she is lying. The people who dredge up tweets or her interview schedule her political opinions as evidence of some sort of bad intentions are leaving out a suite of alternative explanations and aren't proving anything other than that it's very difficult, if you are a victim of sexual assault, to be taken seriously regardless of what the truth is.

Given what her tweets have looked like, it's very hard to take her seriously on anything tbh. It's also hard to take her not being political now that she's explicitly saying he should drop out.

She's also very obsessed with the spotlight, and the media, and then straight up lying about them. Reade is not giving people a lot of reasons to give her the benefit of the doubt.

One of the reasons Blasey Ford was believed was because nothing about her screamed political. She wasn't partisan, she wasn't running to Megyn Kelly, she wasn't trying to get interviews, she wasn't on social media. She had her story, wanted to tell it, and that was it. Reade is acting a complete 180 here. Not all victims act the same, of course, but her behavior is just getting ridiculous. She literally hired a Trump lackey as her representation.

My point is that there is nothing mutually exclusive about being "political" and being a victim of sexual assault. If I was assaulted and I saw the perpetrator within arms reach of the Presidency, I would also try to stop him.

Many (but not all) of the expectations people are placing on her are unfair and independent of the truth of her claim. That doesn't mean there aren't other criticisms which are fair. These are the criticisms I respect. But the people who point to "tick tock" tweets as some sort of incontrovertable evidence are making the atmosphere for actual assault victims much worse.

So you're saying that you would've brought this up in 2008 when Biden was nominated as VP then. 

[💥💥 brandon bro (he/him/his)]

Between the Vox article, cancelling interviews with Chris Wallace and Don Lemon to give an interview to a notorious softball interviewer in Megyn Kelly, and now hiring a pro-Trump lawyer it’s really hard not to argue that MacArthur had this right all along

The interviews are consistent with a person who experienced a traumatic injury being nervous and afraid of reprisal. They aren't evidence of lying.

I mean they aren't evidence but I am not at all convinced that this is indicative of a fearful and traumatized person. Changing her story in pretty substantial ways and what looks like getting her friends and neighbors to say what she wants them to say does not strike me as "oh she's traumatized and fearful"

The evolving story is the main reason I'm inclined to not accept her story right now, but isn't enough to convince me that she is lying. The people who dredge up tweets or her interview schedule her political opinions as evidence of some sort of bad intentions are leaving out a suite of alternative explanations and aren't proving anything other than that it's very difficult, if you are a victim of sexual assault, to be taken seriously regardless of what the truth is.

Given what her tweets have looked like, it's very hard to take her seriously on anything tbh. It's also hard to take her not being political now that she's explicitly saying he should drop out.

She's also very obsessed with the spotlight, and the media, and then straight up lying about them. Reade is not giving people a lot of reasons to give her the benefit of the doubt.

One of the reasons Blasey Ford was believed was because nothing about her screamed political. She wasn't partisan, she wasn't running to Megyn Kelly, she wasn't trying to get interviews, she wasn't on social media. She had her story, wanted to tell it, and that was it. Reade is acting a complete 180 here. Not all victims act the same, of course, but her behavior is just getting ridiculous. She literally hired a Trump lackey as her representation.

My point is that there is nothing mutually exclusive about being "political" and being a victim of sexual assault. If I was assaulted and I saw the perpetrator within arms reach of the Presidency, I would also try to stop him.

Many (but not all) of the expectations people are placing on her are unfair and independent of the truth of her claim. That doesn't mean there aren't other criticisms which are fair. These are the criticisms I respect. But the people who point to "tick tock" tweets as some sort of incontrovertable evidence are making the atmosphere for actual assault victims much worse.

So you're saying that you would've brought this up in 2008 when Biden was nominated as VP then.  

What I am saying is that there is no one unitary standard for how a victim of sexual assault should behave, below which you can disregard their claims wholesale.

[President Punxsutawney Phil]

The genuine and important cause of MeToo deserves better than be associated with Tara Reade. And it is not OK for people like Reade to be treated in the same vein as genuine rape victims, even after the story is laid out and she has already gotten the appropriate scrutiny (as PM73 has said). It's an insult to genuine rape victims to extend the full and complete reaction they got to someone like Reade.

[💥💥 brandon bro (he/him/his)]

I think people who are not victims of sexual assault should not talk about what is and is not "insulting" to assault victims unless they hear so first hand from an actual assault victim.

[CellarDoor]

Between the Vox article, cancelling interviews with Chris Wallace and Don Lemon to give an interview to a notorious softball interviewer in Megyn Kelly, and now hiring a pro-Trump lawyer it’s really hard not to argue that MacArthur had this right all along

The interviews are consistent with a person who experienced a traumatic injury being nervous and afraid of reprisal. They aren't evidence of lying.

I mean they aren't evidence but I am not at all convinced that this is indicative of a fearful and traumatized person. Changing her story in pretty substantial ways and what looks like getting her friends and neighbors to say what she wants them to say does not strike me as "oh she's traumatized and fearful"

The evolving story is the main reason I'm inclined to not accept her story right now, but isn't enough to convince me that she is lying. The people who dredge up tweets or her interview schedule her political opinions as evidence of some sort of bad intentions are leaving out a suite of alternative explanations and aren't proving anything other than that it's very difficult, if you are a victim of sexual assault, to be taken seriously regardless of what the truth is.

Given what her tweets have looked like, it's very hard to take her seriously on anything tbh. It's also hard to take her not being political now that she's explicitly saying he should drop out.

She's also very obsessed with the spotlight, and the media, and then straight up lying about them. Reade is not giving people a lot of reasons to give her the benefit of the doubt.

One of the reasons Blasey Ford was believed was because nothing about her screamed political. She wasn't partisan, she wasn't running to Megyn Kelly, she wasn't trying to get interviews, she wasn't on social media. She had her story, wanted to tell it, and that was it. Reade is acting a complete 180 here. Not all victims act the same, of course, but her behavior is just getting ridiculous. She literally hired a Trump lackey as her representation.

My point is that there is nothing mutually exclusive about being "political" and being a victim of sexual assault. If I was assaulted and I saw the perpetrator within arms reach of the Presidency, I would also try to stop him.

Many (but not all) of the expectations people are placing on her are unfair and independent of the truth of her claim. That doesn't mean there aren't other criticisms which are fair. These are the criticisms I respect. But the people who point to "tick tock" tweets as some sort of incontrovertable evidence are making the atmosphere for actual assault victims much worse.

So you're saying that you would've brought this up in 2008 when Biden was nominated as VP then.  

What I am saying is that there is no one unitary standard for how a victim of sexual assault should behave, below which you can disregard their claims wholesale.

I agree that there is no unitary standard for how a victim of sexual assault should behave.  They should all be given the benefit of the doubt and be provided a safe space where they can tell their story.  In this case, Reade has used that space to tell multiple, completely different stories, and so she loses the benefit of the doubt. 

[Landslide Lyndon]

There is always a tweet.

https://twitter.com/megynkelly/status/1046826561918423045

[Yank2133]

https://twitter.com/DanaHoule/status/1258494744881254425

These people have done serious damage to the Metoo Movement.

[Bojack Horseman]

The media is now “taking this seriously” (quotes for sarcasm not emphasis) to damage Biden because they want a close horse race this year and not a blowout. It really is time to opposearch nuke her. We must completely destroy this woman or she’s going to be the 2020 equivalent of Hillary’s emails. Above all we need to teach this b***h a lesson that she messed with the wrong guy.

[Landslide Lyndon]

https://twitter.com/DanaHoule/status/1258494744881254425

These people have done serious damage to the Metoo Movement.

I think that's the main goal of right-wingers, not damaging Biden. And as you can see there are plenty of useful idiots.