Tara Reade Biden allegation megathread

[7,052,770]

Here is her interview with the hill.com

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=i_1X2zlocoM

My own thoughts are that you are innocent until proven guilty, but the issue is that Joe Biden himself has said that all women need to be believed. Isn't that relevant?

Agreed Dems need to retire this line #believealleomen. One of the dumbest things they've done.

agreed.

A better line would be "hear all women", or "all women deserve to present their case", or something like that.

That's what they were trying to say, to draw a contrast between the current system where large swaths of the country automatically disbelieve women immediately.

But yes, the wording left them open for something like this.

[Hindsight was 2020]

MacArthur actually summed up why in a different thread

Christine Blasey Ford was unique in that her claim was backed up by substantial evidence and she herself was highly credible.  Imagine the following:

• Instead of a highly-respected academic, Ford is a crazy cat lady using a fake name who has $500,000 in debt
• Instead of going through the proper channels, Ford tells her "I was raped by Kavanaugh" story to Jimmy Dore on his Aggressive Progressives YouTube show
• Ford has a bunch of Medium writings about how Catholicism is a cult, JFK was secretly serving the Pope, and the Jesuits are part of the New World Order.  She deletes them and scrubs her social media after they are discovered.
• After the story is released, Ford tweets out "Kavanaugh is a rapist and must be stopped!  #F**kTrump #BlueWave2018"
• A year earlier, Ford had also appeared in the media to say she had asked Kavanaugh out in high school and "I never understood why he didn't ask me to prom"
• Ford was friends with Kavanaugh on Facebook and had written things like "good luck with your new job!" and "Future supreme court justice, my hero" on his wall over the years
• Ford made no effort to put together an actual legal team, and instead just pushed her story all over social media

[jdk]

Tare Reade is more a parallel to that who lawyered up with Michael Avenatti and claimed Kavanagh led a gangrape on her- not a credible accusation like Ford, but a blatantly false accusation that never really saw the light of day because everyone, including the media, knew what a bogus claim it was...
You don't even see Trump people jumping on this, it's such obvious crap....it's just red rose twitter and the idiot progressive YouTubers that are pushing it

[wbrocks67]

These threads are completely disingenuous and also show a terrible decision by Yahoo and Vox to publish these stories. Blasey Ford's accusation was extremely credible, with years of backed up stories by friends, her journals, therapist appointments, etc. Reade's case has clearly not been vetted, and everything that has been shown in terms of her history has been extremely un-credible.

[brucejoel99]

The issue here is that these allegations aren't at all comparable to Blasey Ford's. Not only was Blasey Ford able to offer details & locations with regards to what she said about Kavanaugh, but she'd told 2 confidants after the event took place & 1 of those was a friend who corroborated it even after not having spoken to Blasey Ford for several years. In comparison, Reade hasn't really offered any significant details that could be used to actually corroborate what she said, & the only informed persons in this situation are family members of the alleged victim.

This doesn't even touch on the fact that Reade spoke just last year about the incident in question & didn't allege anything close to him using his fingers to penetrate her genitals. Where was this story last year when she only claimed that Biden did nothing more than touch her neck & shoulder? Is that inappropriate? Yes, & Biden has copped to his history of not being cognizant of personal space, but aside from the fact of that behavior being far from that of a sexual predator, it's certainly not something that's worth stepping down over.

If she has further information that could corroborate her accusation, then she should take it to the authorities or investigative journalists to look into. But people are weary of these less-than-mainstream outlets picking up "scoops" when they have every reason to rely on poor sourcing to be the first one to raise the flag, whereas Blasey Ford was carefully vetted by both the Washington Post & her local congresswoman before information about the situation was taken to Feinstein.

And of course there's also the issue with the pro-Putin editorials & pro-Bernie tweets that Reade has penned, giving her at least some motivation for breaking this story now that Biden has all-but-locked up the nomination, making it look like this is all nothing more than an attempt to prevent Biden from continuing to dominate the primaries; the fact that this story hasn't been vetted by a credible news team (not even Fox News, for heaven's sake); & the fact that Reade can't remember a variety of details like where she was when the incident took place.

[Lord Admirale]

Guess what ai just did? Unfollowed Katie Halper on twitter!

I want to thank you that, while your preferred candidates did not get the nomination, you are working to help us get rid of Trump, rather than tarnish Joe Biden

[Rookie Yinzer]

I don’t believe it. Call me what you want. 🤷🏿‍♂️

[Torrain]

So I logged onto Reddit this morning, and scrolled through the front page of trending posts.

I’ve seen at least two trending posts, on subreddits devoted to promoting sanders (r/SandersforPresident, r/wayoftheBern) promoting this story, to the extent that the whole site is flooded with the conspiracy.

The Bernie Bros going to do exactly what they did in 2016, drumming up the worst conspiracies possible about the Democratic front runner, and handing Trump his attack strategies on a platter.

It’s more than ‘Bernie-or-bust’. It’s ‘give me my candidate or I will burn this party’s chance to the ground out of sheer visceral spite’, and I’m sick of it.

[BlueSwan]

For all those saying "whatabout Kavanaugh"

Another Kavanaugh Accuser Admits Fabricating Rape

There were a whole bunch of Kavanaugh accusers who came out around the same time as Christine Blasey Ford.  You don't remember them, because the media didn't cover them.  Nobody covered them except the fringe left, the 2018 version of Ryan Grim and Krystal Ball, folks who had no credibility left to lose.

They didn't receive any coverage because their claims were not credible and they themselves came off as untrustworthy and had rather obvious financial/political motivations.  Typically, when a random person makes a rape allegation against a major public official, the media investigates it quietly and only prints it if there is an actual story.  A random person claiming to have had some sort of noteworthy interaction with a celebrity or politician, with zero evidence or credibility to back it up, is not newsworthy.

Christine Blasey Ford was unique in that her claim was backed up by substantial evidence and she herself was highly credible.  Imagine the following:

• Instead of a highly-respected academic, Ford is a crazy cat lady using a fake name who has $500,000 in debt
• Instead of going through the proper channels, Ford tells her "I was raped by Kavanaugh" story to Jimmy Dore on his Aggressive Progressives YouTube show
• Ford has a bunch of Medium writings about how Catholicism is a cult, JFK was secretly serving the Pope, and the Jesuits are part of the New World Order.  She deletes them and scrubs her social media after they are discovered.
• After the story is released, Ford tweets out "Kavanaugh is a rapist and must be stopped!  #F**kTrump #BlueWave2018"
• A year earlier, Ford had also appeared in the media to say she had asked Kavanaugh out in high school and "I never understood why he didn't ask me to prom"
• Ford was friends with Kavanaugh on Facebook and had written things like "good luck with your new job!" and "Future supreme court justice, my hero" on his wall over the years
• Ford made no effort to put together an actual legal team, and instead just pushed her story all over social media

do you think we would have done the same thing?  No.  She would have been dismissed by the media just like all the other Kavanaugh accusers and faded into obscurity.

It’s sad I’ve found myself in such agreement with MacArthur on this issue but this is really hard to to notice in this situation

I don't know why that should be a problem. MacArthur is consistently one of the best posters on this site. You don't have to agree with him on everything to recognize that.

[President Johnson]

These guys should get a life. Honestly.

[Kleine Scheiße]

The issue here is that these allegations aren't at all comparable to Blasey Ford's. Not only was Blasey Ford able to offer details & locations with regards to what she said about Kavanaugh, but she'd told 2 confidants after the event took place & 1 of those was a friend who corroborated it even after not having spoken to Blasey Ford for several years. In comparison, Reade hasn't really offered any significant details that could be used to actually corroborate what she said, & the only informed persons in this situation are family members of the alleged victim.

This doesn't even touch on the fact that Reade spoke just last year about the incident in question & didn't allege anything close to him using his fingers to penetrate her genitals. Where was this story last year when she only claimed that Biden did nothing more than touch her neck & shoulder? Is that inappropriate? Yes, & Biden has copped to his history of not being cognizant of personal space, but aside from the fact of that behavior being far from that of a sexual predator, it's certainly not something that's worth stepping down over.

If she has further information that could corroborate her accusation, then she should take it to the authorities or investigative journalists to look into. But people are weary of these less-than-mainstream outlets picking up "scoops" when they have every reason to rely on poor sourcing to be the first one to raise the flag, whereas Blasey Ford was carefully vetted by both the Washington Post & her local congresswoman before information about the situation was taken to Feinstein.

And of course there's also the issue with the pro-Putin editorials & pro-Bernie tweets that Reade has penned, giving her at least some motivation for breaking this story now that Biden has all-but-locked up the nomination, making it look like this is all nothing more than an attempt to prevent Biden from continuing to dominate the primaries; the fact that this story hasn't been vetted by a credible news team (not even Fox News, for heaven's sake); & the fact that Reade can't remember a variety of details like where she was when the incident took place.

To my knowledge, she's claimed that it happened in a Senate hallway, and having spent a lot of time in those hallways, I can attest that it's like a sentient labyrinth. It's easy to end up several buildings away from where you need to be, very quickly and without realizing.

Agreed, otherwise; all allegations should be taken seriously and the reason Ford's accusation was taken more seriously than Reade's is because Ford was demonstrably the more serious person.

[wbrocks67]

The issue here is that these allegations aren't at all comparable to Blasey Ford's. Not only was Blasey Ford able to offer details & locations with regards to what she said about Kavanaugh, but she'd told 2 confidants after the event took place & 1 of those was a friend who corroborated it even after not having spoken to Blasey Ford for several years. In comparison, Reade hasn't really offered any significant details that could be used to actually corroborate what she said, & the only informed persons in this situation are family members of the alleged victim.

This doesn't even touch on the fact that Reade spoke just last year about the incident in question & didn't allege anything close to him using his fingers to penetrate her genitals. Where was this story last year when she only claimed that Biden did nothing more than touch her neck & shoulder? Is that inappropriate? Yes, & Biden has copped to his history of not being cognizant of personal space, but aside from the fact of that behavior being far from that of a sexual predator, it's certainly not something that's worth stepping down over.

If she has further information that could corroborate her accusation, then she should take it to the authorities or investigative journalists to look into. But people are weary of these less-than-mainstream outlets picking up "scoops" when they have every reason to rely on poor sourcing to be the first one to raise the flag, whereas Blasey Ford was carefully vetted by both the Washington Post & her local congresswoman before information about the situation was taken to Feinstein.

And of course there's also the issue with the pro-Putin editorials & pro-Bernie tweets that Reade has penned, giving her at least some motivation for breaking this story now that Biden has all-but-locked up the nomination, making it look like this is all nothing more than an attempt to prevent Biden from continuing to dominate the primaries; the fact that this story hasn't been vetted by a credible news team (not even Fox News, for heaven's sake); & the fact that Reade can't remember a variety of details like where she was when the incident took place.

To my knowledge, she's claimed that it happened in a Senate hallway, and having spent a lot of time in those hallways, I can attest that it's like a sentient labyrinth. It's easy to end up several buildings away from where you need to be, very quickly and without realizing.

Agreed, otherwise; all allegations should be taken seriously and the reason Ford's accusation was taken more seriously than Reade's is because Ford was demonstrably the more serious person.

Exactly. Reade literally tweeted the story out and added "#BernieSanders2020" and tagged Bernie in it. It's hard to take that seriously.

[pppolitics]

Oh, I don't know.

Maybe it's because Blasey Ford isn't a Putin-loving commie and doesn't go online to promote her political agenda.

[Yellowhammer]

But we must believe all women. Their testimony always takes precedence over a man's because of their anatomy.

[Roronoa D. Law]

I stop taking her seriously when she uploaded her story not through an interview or even on youtube, but through Soundcloud. Like she about to release a mixtape.

[KaiserDave]

But we must believe all women. Their testimony always takes precedence over a man's because of their anatomy.

I hate so much about the things you choose to be.

[redjohn]

Democrats accusing a woman of lying because it's against their guy is extremely gross. Lots of mental gymnastics from Biden supporters, and you know your side is losing when you're having to resort to things like implicating because she didn't see a counselor/follow what non-survivors may consider the "traditional" path of recovering her story is somehow less meaningful or believable.

Also, Tara being a Bernie supporter in NO WAY shape or form makes her story less plausible. Come on. Use your heads. We're supposed to be better than this.

[GeneralMacArthur]

Huffington Post has an article about it now.  They take a very anti-Biden spin:

https://www.huffpost.com/entry/joe-biden-sexual-assault-tara-reade_n_5e7e69c8c5b6256a7a2a88f2

The allegations are reported uncritically, without any information about why Reade is seen as non-credible, such as her changing her story, her Russia fetishism, her using this allegation to promote Bernie Sanders, etc.

It's hilarious and sad that when the author reached out to the Biden campaign for comment, they said:

“Women have a right to tell their story, and reporters have an obligation to rigorously vet those claims,” Kate Bedingfield said in a statement to HuffPost. “We encourage them to do so, because these accusations are false.”

but then the author didn't rigorously vet the claims at all, she just reported exactly what Tara Reade wanted her to report.

[Orwell]

Because she's literally tweeting bernieforpresident and expressing support for Putin. She's a despicable human being and should be prosecuted!

You were an unexpected ally, but a welcome one.

[wbrocks67]

Democrats accusing a woman of lying because it's against their guy is extremely gross. Lots of mental gymnastics from Biden supporters, and you know your side is losing when you're having to resort to things like implicating because she didn't see a counselor/follow what non-survivors may consider the "traditional" path of recovering her story is somehow less meaningful or believable.

Also, Tara being a Bernie supporter in NO WAY shape or form makes her story less plausible. Come on. Use your heads. We're supposed to be better than this.

You're being very disingenuous and rewriting what people here are saying. It's not purely bc shes a Bernie supporter or that she didn't take the "traditional path."

Again: there's a reason why major outlets (other than Vox and Yahoo, who are just re-reporting the original allegations) are not reporting on this. The story is clearly not vetted, or maybe it has been, and there was holes. There have been numerous Twitter threads here that also show that she's been caught in multiple lies and otherwise odd and weird scenarios with Russia/Putin. Not to mention, again, if she was interested in getting her story and out was legitimate, she would not be asking Bernie Sanders to RT her tweet about it, while simultaneously hashtagging #BernieSanders2020 in her tweet about Joe Biden's attempted sexual assault. There are MANY reasons why this is different and many reasons why people are skeptical.

[dunceDude]

Eh, I'll bite. Even if this were credible, Joe is clearly the nominee and clearly better than Donald Trump. There is no question of which man is more morally decent and has better policy goals. We probably would act hypocritically in that case and we should. I would be VERY critical of people sitting the election out while others, as you read this, are on ventilators fighting for their life because the President is not smarter than a 5th grader.

[Vaccinated Russian Bear]

Will ya?

[DrScholl]

Christine Blasey Ford didn't go on Twitter promoting a candidate while making her allegations. Sanders supporters have gone through numerous insane machinations since Super Tuesday and this is the latest one. The media won't give this woman a platform because her story is a lie. These people will do anything to make Sanders President of the United States.

[brucejoel99]

Democrats accusing a woman of lying because it's against their guy is extremely gross. Lots of mental gymnastics from Biden supporters, and you know your side is losing when you're having to resort to things like implicating because she didn't see a counselor/follow what non-survivors may consider the "traditional" path of recovering her story is somehow less meaningful or believable.

Also, Tara being a Bernie supporter in NO WAY shape or form makes her story less plausible. Come on. Use your heads. We're supposed to be better than this.

Facts aren't mental gymnastics.

[GeneralMacArthur]

Will ya?

You Trump hacks keep using this line, it doesn't mean what you think it means.  You'd know that if you actually gave a damn about victims instead of just seeing them as political props to use as weapons against Democrats.