Last week during the Democratic National Convention, journalists and media outlets did their best to bury the 1993 sexual assault accusations against Joe Biden. As revealed in a Media Research Center study, CNN and MSNBC basically turned into DNC TV during the conventions, playing the Democratic feed with no commentary or analysis.
So it’s not surprising that Tara Reade’s shocking accusations didn’t get any airtime. ABC, CBS and NBC similarly censored the topic during convention week. (In April, the networks conducted a month-long blackout of Reade's disturbing recounting of what she says Biden did to her.)
PBS, by contrast, managed a scant 50 seconds of coverage on claims of assault and unwanted touching against Biden. Reporter Lisa Desjardins on Thursday's PBS NewsHour noted, “He also got mixed attention for how he touched people, sometimes tightly embracing or putting hands on shoulders, like with Stephanie Carter, wife of the incoming Defense Secretary. Some, like Carter, said it was a show of empathy. But in 2019, a half dozen women would say he made them uncomfortable. Biden responded to the allegations of unwanted touching with a video, saying he heard the women and would be more aware of others' personal space.”
Finally, getting to Tara Reade in specific, she added:
LISA DESJARDINS: But then, one of the women, a former Senate staffer named Tara Reade, would add to her charges, saying Biden sexually assaulted her.
TARA READE: He just had me up against a wall and the wall was cold. And I remember he— it happened all at once. The gym bag— I don't know where it went, I handed it to him and it was gone, and his hands were on me and underneath my clothes.
DESJARDINS: Biden addressed the charge on MSNBC.
JOE BIDEN: It is not true. I'm saying unequivocally: It never, never happened. And it didn't. It never happened.
The Reade section amounted to just 32 seconds, but that’s still better than CNN, MSNBC or the networks. I talked to Reade on August 12 about how she thinks journalists should handle her assault accusations against the presidential nominee:
Journalists should be asking her pointedly why there was a smear campaign on me and why Kamala was so aggressive and assertive with [then-Supreme Court nominee Brett] Kavanaugh and here she knows there is a credible sexual assault accusation against Senator Biden.
The former Biden Senate staffer told Fox News she would be willing to speak at the Republican convention if asked:
Reade said her offer to speak at the GOP convention next week is "absolutely" on the table, saying she would be "more than happy to do so."
"I think survivors need a voice and I would be humbled and honored to help raise and lift that voice if that's possible," Reade added.
Journalists probably wouldn’t be happy about this development. They might actually be forced to do their jobs and cover bad news for Biden.
A transcript from the PBS segment is below:
PBS NewsHour Convention coverage
8/20/2020
8:29 PM ETLISA DESJARDINS: He also got mixed attention for how he touched people, sometimes tightly embracing or putting hands on shoulders, like with Stephanie Carter, wife of the incoming Defense Secretary. Some, like Carter, said it was a show of empathy. But in 2019, a half dozen women would say he made them uncomfortable. Biden responded to the allegations of unwanted touching with a video, saying he heard the women and would be more aware of others' personal space. But then, one of the women, a former Senate staffer named Tara Reade, would add to her charges, saying Biden sexually assaulted her.
TARA READE: He just had me up against a wall and the wall was cold. And I remember he— it happened all at once. The gym bag— I don't know where it went, I handed it to him and it was gone, and his hands were on me and underneath my clothes.
DESJARDINS: Biden addressed the charge on MSNBC.
JOE BIDEN: It is not true. I'm saying unequivocally: It never, never happened. And it didn't. It never happened.
