In early March, Tara Reade accused
former vice-president and likely Democratic presidential nominee Joe
Biden of sexually assaulting her in the spring of 1993, when she worked
as a staff assistant in his Senate office. Two months after Reade first
made the allegation, and one month after she filed
a criminal complaint against Biden on April 10, a consensus seems to
have been reached by Democratic politicians: do not ask more questions,
do not press further, and do not elevate Reade’s voice. This contradicts
the heart of the fight against sexual assault and is the exact opposite
of how women who come forward should be treated. Whether or not Biden
is guilty, Reade deserves to be heard.
A slew of staunch supporters of the
#MeToo movement, including Democratic politicians Stacy Abrams and
Kirsten Gillibrand, have quickly voiced
their continued support for Biden, tacitly stating they believe his
denial. Media investigations continually fail to mention all available
evidence, and often seem predisposed to find the allegations not to be
credible, urging their audience to come to a certain conclusion. In all
this, Reade has been left behind and has not been given even a semblance
of the investigation her accusation merits.
The response to Reade, like every
response to women who accuse powerful men of sexual assault or
harassment, tells survivors in this country how society will treat them.
Reade’s accusations have garnered disbelief, disdain, and nonchalance.
There is almost a consensus that women will only be fiercely defended
when it is politically convenient, as can be seen in the different
responses to Reade’s accusations of Biden and Christine Blasey Ford’s
accusations against Justice Brett Kavanaugh. Reade, who has received
little support from the media and prominent Democratic officials,
deserves to have her claims investigated and taken with the utmost
seriousness.
Reade first made her allegation in a podcast on March 25. It took over two weeks for major outlets, including the Associated Press, the New York Times, and the Washington Post to write articles on the allegations. In contrast, the Intercept reported
on Ford’s allegations before her initial letter detailing the
allegations to Sen. Dianne Feinstein was made public, and CNN, the New Yorker, and the Post
all published stories within four days on the revelation. Meanwhile,
Reade was discredited on social media, with a tacit understanding by
much of the public that the lack of articles was a direct reflection of
the accuracy of Reade’s claims. In recent days, articles about other aspects of Reade’s life have been used to create doubt of the veracity of her claims.
The stories that were then released
often took a dismissive or critical tone, and focused on Biden’s
response rather than the allegations themselves. A particularly
egregious “investigation” by the New York Times asserted the Times
had found no corroboration of her claims and “no pattern of sexual
misconduct by Mr. Biden,” effectively making a judgment on the veracity
of Reade’s claims for readers. In the days after the article was
released, multiple pieces of evidence that supported Reade’s claim and had been overlooked by the Times came to light.
We cannot expect reporters to examine
claims of sexual assault to the extent of a criminal investigation. We
should, however, expect them to be honest about when they fall short,
and to allow their readers to make their own judgments. We can expect
them to treat women who come forward with far more dignity and respect
than Reade has been afforded, and we can expect them to report on
women’s claims regardless of the political party of the accused.
-- editorial board, "Don’t leave Tara Reade behind" (GEORGETOWN VOICE).