The Washington Post’s editorial board called on former Vice President Joe Biden to directly address Tara Reade’s accusation of sexual assault against him Wednesday.
Reade, a former Senate staffer, publicly accused Biden of sexual assault last month back when he was a Delaware senator in the early 1990s. Biden has not directly addressed the allegation, despite recent evidence coming to light that could corroborate parts of Reade’s story.
WaPo’s editorial board called Biden out Wednesday for his failure to address the accusation. The board wrote that in order to show he takes claims like this from women seriously, Biden must address them head-on.
“TARA READE deserves to be heard, and voters deserve to hear her,” the editorial board wrote. “They deserve to hear from Joe Biden, too.”
“Mr. Biden may have little to say besides what his campaign has already said — that he did not do this, and that this is not something he ever would do. Yet the way to signal he takes Ms. Reade’s case seriously, and the cases of women like her seriously, is to go before the media and the public ready to listen and to reply.”
The editorial board noted that there are “inconsistencies” in Reade’s “retelling” of the incident. It added that despite this, there is “no excuse for not searching” – although there are currently “no clear conclusions.”
New: The Washington Post’s editorial board calls on @JoeBiden to address the Tara Reade allegation directly.
“TARA READE deserves to be heard, and voters deserve to hear her. They deserve to hear from Joe Biden, too,” it starts https://t.co/M1968B5q7z
— Hanna Trudo (@HCTrudo) April 29, 2020
The editorial board continued to discuss possible angles that would shed light on the situation, such as the records from Biden’s time as a senator currently under lock and key at the University of Delaware. The article called on him to release these records.
“These could contain confirmation of any complaint Ms. Reade made, either through official congressional channels or to the three other employees she claims she informed not specifically of the alleged assault but more generally of harassment,” WaPo’s editorial board wrote.
“They could also contain nothing of the sort. Insisting on an inventory doesn’t mean one believes Ms. Reade or doesn’t believe her. It signals only a desire for the public to know all that’s able to be known, which ought to be in everyone’s interest.”
Biden has only denied the allegations through a spokesperson. The campaign has also reportedly sent talking points to top Democrats regarding the allegation, informing them to say that it “did not happen,” Buzzfeed reported.
The New York Times pushed back on the talking points Wednesday, which reportedly included a comment claiming the NYT’s April 12 investigation found that Reade’s claim “did not happen.” (RELATED: Biden Accuser Tells Us New Video Evidence Proves Her Allegations Are True)
“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.”