CNN journalists seem to be switching to an alternate reality when it comes to the Tara Reade sexual assault allegations. The network that didn’t cover the story at all for a month now says that “the media has been reporting on this extensively.” On Friday's New Day, Dana Bash derided competitor MSNBC, where Biden finally gave an interview on the topic, as a “home team” venue for the Democrat.
Speaking of the Mika Brzezinski Morning Joe interview, which was actually very tough, Bash dismissed, “One thing I will say is that, you know, the interview was very direct, but it was a home team interview.”
She added:
Hopefully with others we'll have a chance to also ask questions because if he wants to end this, and if he wants to continue to stay on the plane of “never happened, I'm here to answer questions, I not going to question her motives, but have at it,” it has got to continue.
Hopefully others will have a chance to ask questions? CNN had plenty of opportunities. Here’s what I wrote in my April 28 study of who in the media was covering Reade and who was not:
CNN had the most opportunities to ask Biden about Reade. The network had a town hall on March 27. There were 23 questions total on a variety of non-sexual assault-related topics. On March 31, Brooke Baldwin asked four questions to Biden. On April 16, CNN hosted another town hall for an additional six questions. In total, the network asked 33 questions.
So, CNN had 33 questions in a month and failed to bring up the topic. Were those also “home team interviews”? (CNN FINALLY covered Reade on April 25.)
Earlier in the segment, reporter MJ Lee cited the Biden campaign saying that the media had looked into this extensively:
He was incredibly defiant. "There is no gray area. This is black and white. This simply did not happen." So I think that, of course, is very important to note. He mentioned in this interview that -- his statement as well, that the media has been reporting on this extensively and he specifically cited the fact that reporters have spoken to multiple former staffers that worked at Joe Biden's Senate office and that none of them corroborated this allegation.
Simply not true. For a month, CNN, ABC and NBC completely censored this story. It seems as though journalists are preparing to parrot what will inevitably be the Biden line: This has already been looked into extensively by the media.
A partial transcript is below:
New Day
5/1/2020
8:26
MJ LEE: I think it has been clear for a while now that Joe Biden had to address this allegation himself. A statement from his campaign spokesperson just was not enough and I think the tone there that we just heard, he was incredibly defiant. There is no gray area. This is black and white. This simply did not happen. So I think that, of course, is very important to note. He mentioned in this interview that -- his statement as well, that the media has been reporting on this extensively and he specifically cited the fact that reporters have spoken to multiple former staffers that worked at Joe Biden's Senate office and that none of them corroborated this allegation. Now, that's true. CNN has also spoken with a number of former staffers that worked in Joe Biden's Senate office and they all said this is just not true. We never heard about this, and he is not somebody who would do is.
However, it is so important to note in any time when we're talking about this, that we also have spoken with people who did corroborate Tara Reade's allegation, whether it is a partial corroboration or a full corroboration. For example, there is a friend who is speaking anonymously, does not want to be named, but had said that Tara Reade told her about the alleged assault at the time. There is a former neighbor that CNN has spoken with who said that Tara Reade told her about the alleged assault within a few years of the alleged assault. So Joe Biden, of course, is wanting to sort of highlight the people who have said that it did not happen, but we have to be very clear that there are also people who say they were told about this alleged assault, whether at the time or years later.
8:35
ALISYN CAMEROTA: This is violence. This is a sexual assault in a public place. Again, unless there is more information that is going to come out that we don't know, this is not like anything we have ever heard before.
DANA BASH: That's a good point. I walk the halls of congress for many years, and particularly as a woman, you hear things about, you know, whether they're true or not, you hear rumors about certain senators, certain congressmen, to stay away from or that they have certain reputations. That was not the case with Joe Biden. It doesn't mean anything about this particular allegation.
The facts still stand about her -- what she said versus what he said. But when it comes to the character conversation that we're having, that's just the reality. Yes, he is a close talker. He has boundary issues. He's a tactile guy which addressed many times over the course of this campaign. One thing I will say is that, you know, the interview was very direct, but it was a home team interview. And hopefully with others we'll have a chance to also ask questions because if he wants to end this, and if he wants to continue to stay on the plane of “never happened, I'm here to answer questions, I not going to question her motives, but have at it,” it has got to continue.
