Media

New York Times Stealth-Edits Biden Sexual Assault Story, Removes History Of Unwanted Touching

(MANDEL NGAN/AFP via Getty Images)

Derek Hunter Contributor
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The New York Times appeared to stealth-edit a story Sunday about sexual assault allegations against Democratic presidential candidate Joe Biden while he was a senator in the 1990s.

The New York Times ran a story on Sunday titled, “Examining Tara Reade’s Sexual Assault Allegation Against Joe Biden,” in which the paper recounts the former Senate staffer’s version of an assault that allegedly took place in 1993 by the then-Delaware senator.

After some Twitter users mocked a particular passage in the piece, the Times edited it to remove a brief recounting of past allegations against Biden, and did not note the changes. (RELATED: Joe Biden In 2018: ‘Nothing Justifies’ Touching A Woman ‘Without Her Consent’)

“No other allegation about sexual assault surfaced in the course of our reporting, nor did any former Biden staff corroborate Reade’s allegation. We found no pattern of sexual misconduct by Biden, beyond hugs, kisses and touching that women previously said made them uncomfortable,” the Times initially reported.

After being roundly mocked for the dismissive tone of the original reporting, the paper changed the passage. It was changed to read, “No other allegation about sexual assault surfaced in the course of reporting, nor did any former Biden staff members corroborate any details of Ms. Reade’s allegation. The Times found no pattern of sexual misconduct by Mr. Biden.”

The paper made no note of the edit to the piece, but the byline states, “Updated 9:51 a.m. ET. (RELATED: Second Woman Accuses Biden Of Inappropriate Touching)

Reade recently filed a criminal complaint in the matter.