The New York Times pushed back on the Biden campaign’s talking points claiming its investigation into a sexual assault found the incident “did not happen.”
The NYT published an investigation April 12 detailing the allegations former Senate staffer Tara Reade made against former Vice President Joe Biden last month. (RELATED: Biden Accuser Tells Us New Video Evidence Proves Her Allegations Are True)
Following the NYT’s investigation, the Biden campaign reportedly sent out a memo advising top Democratic supporters on how to properly respond to the allegations, Buzzfeed reported. The talking points included noting that “a thorough review by the New York Times has led to the truth: this incident did not happen.”
The NYT pushed back on these talking points in a statement Wednesday, Jonathan Easley, a reporter for The Hill pointed out. The statement noted that the Biden campaign’s insistence that the NYT report found Reade’s allegation to be false is incorrect.
“Buzzfeed reported on the existence of talking points being circulated by the Biden campaign that incorrectly suggest a New York Times investigation found that Tara Reade’s allegation ‘did not happen,'” A NYT spokesperson said. “Our investigation made no conclusion either way.”
A New York Times spokesperson says Biden campaign talking points “inaccurately” suggest that the Times investigation found that Tara Reade’s allegation “did not happen.” Response to this scoop from @rubycramer @RosieGray https://t.co/ZUD6f2WSEE pic.twitter.com/LNaHvH0ZxF
— Jonathan Easley (@JonEasley) April 29, 2020
The NYT report originally included a line in the article that noted the publication “found no pattern of sexual misconduct by Biden, beyond hugs, kisses and touching that women previously said made them uncomfortable.”
This line was edited out after pushback from the Biden campaign, executive editor of the NYT Dean Baquet appeared to admit on April 13. The article does still note that “the Times found no pattern of sexual misconduct by Mr. Biden.”
“A spokeswoman for Mr. Biden said the allegation was false,” the NYT included high up in the report. “In interviews, several people who worked in the Senate office with Ms. Reade said they did not recall any talk of such an incident or similar behavior by Mr. Biden toward her or any women. Two office interns who worked directly with Ms. Reade said they were unaware of the allegation or any treatment that troubled her.”
Since the memo, numerous Biden supporters have parroted these talking points, including former Democratic Georgia gubernatorial candidate Stacey Abrams and Democratic Minnesota Sen. Amy Klobuchar.
The NYT also added in the statement that it included reporting that appeared to corroborate Reade’s story.
The publication did not respond to a request for comment from the Daily Caller.