Tara Reade Biden allegation megathread

[wbrocks67]

Biden spoke about it on GMA again, only the second time publicly, and it was barely a blip on the radar

[7,052,770]

For instance she just recently changed her story about what she was wearing, now she was wearing crotchless lingerie because she was seeing her boyfriend later.  What?  Not only does that contradict her earlier story about not wearing pantyhose because it was too hot for it (which also made no sense) but it's also ludicrous to think she would wear crotchless lingerie and a skirt in a capitol hill work environment.

Wait, seriously? Why wouldn't she have said that from the beginning if true? And how does claim Biden knew?

[7,052,770]

Pretty good thread here (click for the rest):

https://twitter.com/Buen_Perro/status/1259230911003914240

[GeneralMacArthur]

For instance she just recently changed her story about what she was wearing, now she was wearing crotchless lingerie because she was seeing her boyfriend later.  What?  Not only does that contradict her earlier story about not wearing pantyhose because it was too hot for it (which also made no sense) but it's also ludicrous to think she would wear crotchless lingerie and a skirt in a capitol hill work environment.

Wait, seriously? Why wouldn't she have said that from the beginning if true? And how does claim Biden knew?

No idea.  It's just another part of the story that makes no sense.

For the assault to make any sense, Biden would have to have somehow known that she was wearing the lingerie.

But more to the point, it's just a complete change in Tara Reade's story.  She said on many occasions that she chose not to wear pantyhose that day simply because it was "too hot."  Makes no sense.  Now she has changed it to a story about wearing lingerie under her clothes, for the assault to make anatomical sense.

Maybe it's because, since we know she was removed from intern supervising duties in April 1993 (she claims as retaliation), the assault must have happened in March 1993 at the latest.  But in March 1993 there were only three days where the weather even got above 60 degrees.  In fact March 1993 was famous in DC as the month of the "Great Blizzard of 1993" that left DC blanketed in snow and experiencing record low temperatures.  "Too hot" indeed.

If the media had bothered to do the thirty seconds of work it took me to find the weather reports for when it was "too hot to wear pantyhose", they would have reported on that, and she'd have been exposed as a liar for the umpteenth time.

"Oh but maybe 60 degrees was hot for her" you say.  Yeah there's like a 5-10% chance that's the explanation rather than her simply lying.  But how many of these "5-10% chance that's possible" things are we now being asked to stack together in order to excuse the myriad problems with this story?

[All Along The Watchtower]

Here’s what I think is plausible: c.1993, Joe Biden, without any consent, touched Tara Reade in a weird and uncomfortable way, said something bizarre and awkward, and this understandably freaked her the f—ck out. Since Biden was her boss, a powerful US Senator, and 22 years her senior, this is deeply problematic and disturbing, even if it doesn’t qualify as sexual assault. I think Reade might have psychological trauma (not just from this incident necessarily) and/or is manipulating media outlets by embellishing her accusations, but that doesn’t rule out the scenario that I described above, nor does it make it okay in any way - assuming it happened like that (which again, I find entirely plausible).

No, I don’t think Biden’s behavior toward women is equivalent to Trump’s (based on what we know), but that doesn’t give Biden a pass. I am well aware that most people didn’t take this stuff very seriously in the 90s, but Biden should not get a pass on that. And no, I’m not attempting to dissuade anyone from voting for Biden. But I would at least appreciate some more frank discussion about this kind of behavior, even if it’s not the absolute worst behavior in the world in kind or degree, and even if it’s from people you politically support.

[Landslide Lyndon]

Here’s what I think is plausible: c.1993, Joe Biden, without any consent, touched Tara Reade in a weird and uncomfortable way, said something bizarre and awkward, and this understandably freaked her the f—ck out. Since Biden was her boss, a powerful US Senator, and 22 years her senior, this is deeply problematic and disturbing, even if it doesn’t qualify as sexual assault. I think Reade might have psychological trauma (not just from this incident necessarily) and/or is manipulating media outlets by embellishing her accusations, but that doesn’t rule out the scenario that I described above, nor does it make it okay in any way - assuming it happened like that (which again, I find entirely plausible).

Um, that was the initial version of her story. And Biden apologized about all the inappropriate touching at the beginning of his campaign. Reade could come out and say that she is not satisfied but instead she upped the volume to 11 by accusing Biden of rape.

[GeneralMacArthur]

Here’s what I think is plausible: c.1993, Joe Biden, without any consent, touched Tara Reade in a weird and uncomfortable way, said something bizarre and awkward, and this understandably freaked her the f—ck out. Since Biden was her boss, a powerful US Senator, and 22 years her senior, this is deeply problematic and disturbing, even if it doesn’t qualify as sexual assault. I think Reade might have psychological trauma (not just from this incident necessarily) and/or is manipulating media outlets by embellishing her accusations, but that doesn’t rule out the scenario that I described above, nor does it make it okay in any way - assuming it happened like that (which again, I find entirely plausible).

No, I don’t think Biden’s behavior toward women is equivalent to Trump’s (based on what we know), but that doesn’t give Biden a pass. I am well aware that most people didn’t take this stuff very seriously in the 90s, but Biden should not get a pass on that. And no, I’m not attempting to dissuade anyone from voting for Biden. But I would at least appreciate some more frank discussion about this kind of behavior, even if it’s not the absolute worst behavior in the world in kind or degree, and even if it’s from people you politically support.

Why is everyone so desperate to find some sort of middle ground, or some way for Tara's story to at least partially be true?

Tara Reade is lying.  She's lied over and over and over again.  There is no middle ground.  There is no basis for believing that her story has a kernel of truth.  Anyone trying to say "well we know she's lying about the assault but she may at least be telling the truth about X" is just making baseless speculation.  There's no reason to believe any of this is true.  Since she is a compulsive liar, the easiest and most likely explanation is that every word of what she's said is a lie.

The only thing about her story that we know to be true is that she doesn't like Joe Biden.  But her reason for not liking Biden is because she blames him for the bullying she experienced on social media in 2019, combined with run-of-the-mill Bernie-or-Buster logic.

She's probably lying about the 2019 "he touched my shoulder" story as well.  Even at the time, I remember Biden and his team saying "these 7 other stories, we acknowledge they happened, but this Tara Reade story didn't happen."  It just wasn't a fight worth having, though (who cares if it's 7 or 8 women complaining) and he ended up apologizing to her.  But whether she's lying about that or not is immaterial because it's not new information.  We already knew that Biden has been physically affectionate in the past without realizing how it made many women uncomfortable.  He apologized and his stopped doing it.  What more do you want?

[All Along The Watchtower]

Here’s what I think is plausible: c.1993, Joe Biden, without any consent, touched Tara Reade in a weird and uncomfortable way, said something bizarre and awkward, and this understandably freaked her the f—ck out. Since Biden was her boss, a powerful US Senator, and 22 years her senior, this is deeply problematic and disturbing, even if it doesn’t qualify as sexual assault. I think Reade might have psychological trauma (not just from this incident necessarily) and/or is manipulating media outlets by embellishing her accusations, but that doesn’t rule out the scenario that I described above, nor does it make it okay in any way - assuming it happened like that (which again, I find entirely plausible).

No, I don’t think Biden’s behavior toward women is equivalent to Trump’s (based on what we know), but that doesn’t give Biden a pass. I am well aware that most people didn’t take this stuff very seriously in the 90s, but Biden should not get a pass on that. And no, I’m not attempting to dissuade anyone from voting for Biden. But I would at least appreciate some more frank discussion about this kind of behavior, even if it’s not the absolute worst behavior in the world in kind or degree, and even if it’s from people you politically support.

Why is everyone so desperate to find some sort of middle ground, or some way for Tara's story to at least partially be true?

Tara Reade is lying.  She's lied over and over and over again.  There is no middle ground.  There is no basis for believing that her story has a kernel of truth.  Anyone trying to say "well we know she's lying about the assault but she may at least be telling the truth about X" is just making baseless speculation.  There's no reason to believe any of this is true.  Since she is a compulsive liar, the easiest and most likely explanation is that every word of what she's said is a lie.

The only thing about her story that we know to be true is that she doesn't like Joe Biden.  But her reason for not liking Biden is because she blames him for the bullying she experienced on social media in 2019, combined with run-of-the-mill Bernie-or-Buster logic.

Yawn.

I do hope you have a decent career in “journalism” based on that Medium post.

[Bidenworth2020]

I think PR brings up some fair concerns. Rightly or not, Biden now needs to be extra careful in how he conducts himself in regard to physical touch and whatnot, as it will just compound the previous stereotypes and suspicions about him.

[Bomster]

Wait there’s a poll showing voters believe this? Oh dear lord we’re ed. We’ve lost before we even began. God ing dammit why the  did we have to get Trump Jesus Christ how did it come to this?

[Crumpets]

So... what are the odds of Barr declaring he's opening an investigation into Reade's allegations 11 days before the election?

[Landslide Lyndon]

Yawn.

I do hope you have a decent career in “journalism” based on that Medium post.

I hope too since McArthur did a much better and more comprehensive job that most big-name journalists. Maggie Haberman and Peter Baker could take a few lessons from him.

[Ogre Mage]

Here’s what I think is plausible: c.1993, Joe Biden, without any consent, touched Tara Reade in a weird and uncomfortable way, said something bizarre and awkward, and this understandably freaked her the f—ck out. Since Biden was her boss, a powerful US Senator, and 22 years her senior, this is deeply problematic and disturbing, even if it doesn’t qualify as sexual assault. I think Reade might have psychological trauma (not just from this incident necessarily) and/or is manipulating media outlets by embellishing her accusations, but that doesn’t rule out the scenario that I described above, nor does it make it okay in any way - assuming it happened like that (which again, I find entirely plausible).

When Reade told her original story in 2019 about being touched by Biden on her neck and shoulders in an uncomfortable way, I found it plausible at the time.  It was very similar to stories a number of other women told about Biden (not to mention past photos).  That was a minor contributing factor to me not being a Biden supporter at the start of the Democratic Primary.

Fast forward a year later Reade has changed the story to outright rape and changed other aspects of the story so many times (whether or not she filed a complaint, the circumstances of her leaving Senate employment, etc.) the entire thing has become ridiculous.  Furthermore, she has shown a pattern of bizarre, erratic and con-artist behavior.  I really rolled my eyes when she tried to implicate Kamala Harris and Elizabeth Warren.  

Tara Reade, a former Senate staffer who has accused Joe Biden of sexually assaulting her in 1993, claimed Friday in an interview with Megyn Kelly that she brought her allegation to the 2020 presidential campaigns of Sens. Elizabeth Warren and Kamala Harris.

https://www.axios.com/tara-reade-biden-sexual-assault-854e0c07-87a7-4f49-9409-c0ce47ab6876.html

Yeah, she just happened to bring her accusation to two Democratic women who are on Biden's short list for VP.    You can smell the bull$h*t she's trying to pull from five miles away.

[7,052,770]

Here’s what I think is plausible: c.1993, Joe Biden, without any consent, touched Tara Reade in a weird and uncomfortable way, said something bizarre and awkward, and this understandably freaked her the f—ck out. Since Biden was her boss, a powerful US Senator, and 22 years her senior, this is deeply problematic and disturbing, even if it doesn’t qualify as sexual assault. I think Reade might have psychological trauma (not just from this incident necessarily) and/or is manipulating media outlets by embellishing her accusations, but that doesn’t rule out the scenario that I described above, nor does it make it okay in any way - assuming it happened like that (which again, I find entirely plausible).

No, I don’t think Biden’s behavior toward women is equivalent to Trump’s (based on what we know), but that doesn’t give Biden a pass. I am well aware that most people didn’t take this stuff very seriously in the 90s, but Biden should not get a pass on that. And no, I’m not attempting to dissuade anyone from voting for Biden. But I would at least appreciate some more frank discussion about this kind of behavior, even if it’s not the absolute worst behavior in the world in kind or degree, and even if it’s from people you politically support.

I don't understand the need to contrive a scenario where Reade is still lying, but Biden still did something bad too.

No one should be making up arguments on Reade's behalf that she's not making herself.

[Bomster]

I’ll be honest, in my opinion the truth of this matter is that Joe Biden raped no one. But the thing is we live in the post-truth world, where people choose to believe only what benefits their side. Regardless of whatever the truth is, there will be a split. The question is, how many of those who don’t have a clear inclination towards Trump or Biden can we convince? As of right now the story doesn’t have too much attention. Impeachment changed nothing because all it did was reveal people’s biases. I predict this will do the same, however it could negatively impact Biden by further alienating the left despite Biden’s efforts to court them and it could alienate moderates who feel that both candidates are bad.

[Meclazine for Israel]

I think PR brings up some fair concerns. Rightly or not, Biden now needs to be extra careful in how he conducts himself in regard to physical touch and whatnot, as it will just compound the previous stereotypes and suspicions about him.

PR is onto something. It looks as though what happened in 1993 was a very uncomfortable moment of misinterpretation on Joe Biden's part.

This is not going away.

[CityofSinners]

This article is a very thorough look at Reade's backstory. That the accusations against her husband grow in the same way as the accusations against Biden makes me really sceptical that the assault happened.
Most of the evidence points towards her feeling sexually harassed either by Biden or his staffers but nothing more.

https://quillette.com/2020/05/14/tara-reades-dubious-claims-and-shifting-stories-show-the-limits-of-believewomen/

[BudgieForce]

This might be one of the most thorough articles I've seen on this topic. PBS interviewed 74 former Biden staffers. None heard about the allegations until Reade came forward earlier this year. Also this anecdote from her former coworker Ben Savage:

Ben Savage, who said his desk was next to Reade’s in the Biden mailroom, disputed her charge that she was forced out of her job in retaliation for a sexual harassment complaint she claims to have filed.

Savage, who worked as the office’s systems administrator, overseeing computers and information processing, told the NewsHour that Reade was fired for her poor performance on the job, which he witnessed — not as retaliation for her complaints about sexual harassment.

But according to Savage, Reade had been mishandling a key part of her job and an essential office task — processing constituent mail, something they worked on together. Savage said he recalls reporting these issues to his boss, deputy chief of staff Dennis Toner. After that, Savage said he began diminishing Reade’s duties, taking over some of her tasks and rerouting parts of the process to exclude her.

https://www.pbs.org/newshour/politics/what-74-former-biden-staffers-think-about-tara-reades-allegations

[7,052,770]

This might be one of the most thorough articles I've seen on this topic. PBS interviewed 74 former Biden staffers. None heard about the allegations until Reade came forward earlier this year. Also this anecdote from her former coworker Ben Savage:

Ben Savage, who said his desk was next to Reade’s in the Biden mailroom, disputed her charge that she was forced out of her job in retaliation for a sexual harassment complaint she claims to have filed.

Savage, who worked as the office’s systems administrator, overseeing computers and information processing, told the NewsHour that Reade was fired for her poor performance on the job, which he witnessed — not as retaliation for her complaints about sexual harassment.

But according to Savage, Reade had been mishandling a key part of her job and an essential office task — processing constituent mail, something they worked on together. Savage said he recalls reporting these issues to his boss, deputy chief of staff Dennis Toner. After that, Savage said he began diminishing Reade’s duties, taking over some of her tasks and rerouting parts of the process to exclude her.

https://www.pbs.org/newshour/politics/what-74-former-biden-staffers-think-about-tara-reades-allegations

I wasn't exaggerating when I said dozens of people would have had to be in on a great conspiracy.

Not one shred of evidence that this happened, and very strong evidence that it didn't. Believing Reade means believing in QAnon's deep state, and it means believing an anti-Biden agenda over the facts.

[Lief 🗽]

It’s becoming more and more clear that not only was Reade’s story a total fabrication, but in fact Ryan Grim, Katie Halper, and the rest knew it was. There is absolutely zero corroboration for their brazen smears, and in fact, based on articles like that one, a mountain of evidence supporting Biden’s account. All of these people need to apologize and pay Biden significant damages.

[Bomster]

So PBS interviewed 74 Biden staffers from throughout his career, and not a single one corroborated Reade’s claim. I think it’s fair to say that Biden didn’t do it.

[heatcharger]

It’s becoming more and more clear that not only was Reade’s story a total fabrication, but in fact Ryan Grim, Katie Halper, and the rest knew it was. There is absolutely zero corroboration for their brazen smears, and in fact, based on articles like that one, a mountain of evidence supporting Biden’s account. All of these people need to apologize and pay Biden significant damages.

Yeah hopefully President Biden takes a look at opening up libel laws, getting Brazil to extradite Glenn Greenwald, and closing up The Intercept. Maybe we should also look into shutting down these fraudulent "journalism" schools where these people got degrees, since clearly none of them learned anything about integrity in reporting. All of this can happen a little bit before we do healthcare and climate change.

[Lief 🗽]

So PBS interviewed 74 Biden staffers from throughout his career, and not a single one corroborated Reade’s claim. I think it’s fair to say that Biden didn’t do it.

Yes, either that or, as Harry notes, we are witnessing one of the largest and longest cover ups in American political history.

[Gass3268]

https://twitter.com/POLITICOPress/status/1261386686866632706?s=20

[Orser67]

Between the PBS and Politico story, I'm kinda wondering if this is the last day the MSM will take Reade seriously. Though I'm sure her story will live on with the far left and the right.