After ignoring it for 36 days, ABC News on Thursday finally covered the sexual assault allegations against Joe Biden. Good Morning America co-host George Stephanopoulos, who worked for alleged sexual abuser Bill Clinton, belatedly brought ABC viewers up to speed: “Back now with calls force Joe Biden to personally address an allegation of sexual assault by a former staffer who worked in his Senate office in the early 1990s.”
Senior congressional correspondent Mary Bruce added, “Well, as Joe Biden's race for the White House enters a new phase this accusation is hovering over his campaign and this morning, Joe Biden is still silent yet to comment personally on these allegations. This morning, Joe Biden is under growing pressure to address an accusation that has been lingering for weeks.”
Growing “calls?” “Under pressure?” Who is bringing all this pressure? Certainly not ABC. The network ignored the story for over a month. Bruce featured a clip of Reade describing her shocking allegations: “I was up against the wall and I remember his hands underneath my blouse and underneath my skirt and his fingers penetrating me as he was trying to kiss me and I was pulling away.”
CNN covered the story for the first time on Saturday. On Thursday night it was announced that Biden would appear on MSNBC's Morning Joe, a friendly media outlet, to discuss the claims.
Going back to ABC, Bruce tried to bring the allegations aback to Donald Trump:
But her story has now been taken up and heavily promoted by President Trump's campaign. His son Donald Trump Jr. and his political allies. Multiple women have accused the President of sexual assault including rape. President Trump says they're all lying
A transcript is below:
ABC's Good Morning America
04/30/20
7:41:18 a.m. Eastern - 7:45:08 a.m. EasternGEORGE STEPHANOPOULOS: Back now with calls force Joe Biden to personally address an allegation of sexual assault by a former staffer who worked in his senate office in the early 1990s. Mary Bruce is in Washington with the story. Good morning, Mary.
MARY BRUCE: Good morning, George. Well, as Joe Biden's race for the White House enters a new phase this accusation is hovering over his campaign and this morning, Joe Biden is still silent yet to comment personally on these allegations. This morning, Joe Biden is under growing pressure to address an accusation that has been lingering for weeks.
READE: It was very painful and it's had a long-lasting effect on my life.
BRUCE: Tara Reade was a 29-year-old assistant in Biden’s Senate office in 1993 when she says he sexually assaulted her. Reade says an aide told her to bring Biden his gym bag. She says she found him in a corridor of his Senate office building and describe what had she says happened next in interviews with ABC News and other outlets including Democracy Now.
READE: I was up against the wall and I remember his hands underneath my blouse and underneath my skirt and his fingers penetrating me as he was trying to kiss me and I was pulling away.
BRUCE: Reade tells us at the time she complained to the Senate personnel office that Biden had, quote, made her feel uncomfortable. But she says she did not mention an assault and she has no record of the complaint. Reade claims she was forced out of her job. This is not the first time she has gone public with accusations against Biden and Reade's claims have evolved.
Last year when the candidate came under fire from women who accused him of physical contact they felt was inappropriate like unwanted hugs, Reade came forward to say Biden touched her on the shoulder and neck in a way that was, quote, uncomfortable. But she did not mention any kind of an assault. Nothing like the incident she describes today. In a statement Biden's campaign says the former vice president ‘ firmly believes that women have a right to be heard and heard respectfully. Such claims should also be diligently reviewed by an independent press. What is clear about this claim, it is untrue. This absolutely did not happen.’
But Biden himself has not commented on the allegations and the pressure is building for him to speak up. The Washington Post editorial board writing Wednesday, ‘Tara Reade deserves to be heard and voters deserve to hear her. They deserve to hear from Joe Biden too.’ Reade says after the alleged assault in 1993 she told a few people. She referred us to a friend who says Reade told her Biden put his hand up her skirt during an unwanted encounter. That friend did not want to be named. ABC news also spoke with Reade's brother. He told us his sister mentioned in 1993 she was experiencing ‘harassment’ at work. He said he did not know the details until recently. But he later texted us to clarify that he does remember his sister telling him back then that Biden, quote, more or less cornered her against the wall and put his hands up her clothes.
Reade also put us in touch with a former neighbor, Lynda Lacasse who says Reade told her about the alleged assault several years later and Reade describes herself as a hard core Democrat and insists she's not playing politics. But her story has now been taken up and heavily promoted by President Trump's campaign. His son Donald Trump Jr. and his political allies. Multiple women have accused the president of sexual assault including rape. President Trump says they're all lying. Now, Reade also says that at the time she shared her concerns about Biden's inappropriate behavior with three other staffers in Biden's Senate office. We reached out to them and all three refute that and they say Reade never reached out to them and one of them tells us he considers this allegation of assault to be preposterous.
