Author Spotlight
Thomas Paulus
Joe Biden is the last man standing in the democratic debate. And while I’ve tuned in to watch his political messages and surge in the polls, I haven’t seen nearly the same amount of coverage of Tara Reade — one of Biden’s alleged victims of sexual assault.
It’s been over a year since Reade accused Biden of assaulting her in 1993 — which she says changed her life forever. COVID-19 could be the easiest to blame for this sensitive information getting lost in transmission but because of the severity, Reade’s claims need to be heard and investigated on the governmental level. If not, not only will it be letting a major politician off the hook, it’ll be yet another accused assault swept under the rug.
With all of this information, there has been a questionable amount of silence from Biden and some press members during Q&A sessions in his campaigning. While Biden has since denied them, these allegations should not be downplayed or even diminished. While it could seem like the case is closed, this still has to be fought to give Reade a fair governmental trial — just like Brett Kavanaugh’s sexual assault trial.
The origins of this bombshell came last year when Reade and seven other women accused then U.S. Senator Biden of inappropriate touching in the early 90’s when they worked under Biden. Last year Reade attempted to share her story, but was smeared by Biden supporters and turned down by TimesUp — a women’s organization that helps victims of sexual assault — almost certainly due in part to the relation to Biden. The constant rejection led her to share her story on the Hapler Podcast less than a month ago.
At some point before the election, Biden has to be held accountable for these actions. Even if the situation is all a big lie — like his campaign keeps pushing — he needs to be questioned for these horrifying allegations. Even though he recently denied the claims, there should be further research done to prove the truth. If there is no further governmental research done it would be a huge slap in the face to all the courageous women of the #MeToo movement and the people like Biden who defended it during the Kavanaugh case.
Biden recently said that he would let the National Archives release anything that would be related to the case, which makes it seem like he’s pretty certain nothing is there. However, he refuses to open up old senate personnel files — chock full of complaints from the past years — believing no evidence will be in there. If he wants to be transparent — like he’s stated — there is no need to hold out from releasing all related documents. The whole I-don’t-need-to-show-you- because-there’s-nothing-in-there schtick always looks questionable.
It churns my stomach to see many of these champions of the #MeToo movement turns their backs on a hurting individual. Unlike the Kavanaugh case, this allegation has multiple pieces of corroborated evidence, yet there still is no trial or frankly heavy media coverage of the allegation. In the Kavanaugh case many people demanded to believe all women, but now they are backtracking and calling Reade a liar. Political or not, it’s disgusting and sad. Even 10 major women advocacy organizations have refused to comment on Tara Reades situation, further adding to the hypocrisy of these institutions that have championed believing women in their stories.
The #MeToo movement was a revolutionary change for women, finally recognizing voices that were stifled for centuries, but now it seems to be reversing itself. However, her story was compelling enough to be researched by the NY Times and Washington Post, among other news outlets, but that doesn’t mean it should end there. Reade’s accusation is both plausible and backed by family and friends who recall her confiding in them about the situation. Now people like Stacey Abrams and Sen. Krsitin Gillibrand, who suggested the FBI investigation of Kavanaugh, are refuting Reade’s accusations in support of Biden.
Abrams and Gillibrand have claimed to “stand with Biden” during the claims. This specific statement is particularly chilling because the accusation is seeming to be more and more evidently true, like testimonials from neighbors and siblings and even a confirmed call to Larry King from her mother asking advice about dealing with an inappropriate action from her daughter’s boss. This means there should only be one person to “stand with,” and that’s Reade. Their political alignment should have nothing to do with the credibility of an accused’s statements, no matter which side of the political spectrum. Even Reade herself has stated that she has no political motives in telling her story.
Women telling their stories of past assault are not weapons of destruction against political institutions like Democratic National Convention or Republican National Convention but they are being treated like such. Watching Biden and his adversaries switch from caring about women’s truths to trying to silence a credible case makes me question all of their motives. The shift from compassion to indifference shows a direct, very thought-provoking contradiction of their morals.
It’s saddening to see Reade shut out from a fair and balanced trial and to see people turn on her to keep Biden safe. On this trajectory there is no telling if she will be given the justice she deserves, but in the meantime we can only wish for the right thing to be done.
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