The Washington Post may be getting worried. As Joe Biden’s personal silence on Tara Reade (and her sexual assault accusation against the presumptive nominee) continues, the Post's coverage has taken a turn towards fretting. The paper bumped the placement of the story up from page A-22 in Tuesday’s print paper to the front page on Wednesday.
The print story headlined, “Calls grow for Biden to address allegations.” The story, by Sean Sullivan, Matt Viser and Annie Linskey reflected liberal worry about how Biden has handled the assault claims: “The escalating accounts have squeezed Democrats between two competing goals: to support all women accusing powerful men of misconduct and to defend Biden, the party’s presumptive presidential nominee, from what they say are unfounded accusations.”
The journalists put out an alert that the media’s covering for Biden isn’t helping: “Biden has not addressed the accusations and has not been asked about them in any of the several television interviews he has done since Reade’s accusations gained significant public attention.”
In the Post’s story on Tuesday, Viser demonstrated the exact same concern: “Biden has done several interviews since the assault allegations emerged but has yet to be asked about them.”
After noting various defense strategies by Democrats (some of whom are campaigning for the vice presidential spot), the Post journalists noted that even liberal celebrity Alyssa Milano is now equivocating:
Far more common, however, was the ambivalence evident in a statement by another prominent Biden supporter, actor and activist Alyssa Milano.
Milano, who has been at the forefront of the #MeToo movement, on Tuesday acknowledged the new developments.
“I want Tara, like every other survivor, to have the space to be heard and seen without being used as fodder,” she tweeted. “I hear and see you, Tara. #MeToo.”
Jonathan Easley of The Hill is reporting that even a New York Times spokesperson is pushing back on the idea that the paper’s story exonerates Biden:
