On April 24th, Ryan Grim of the Intercept reported that Jeanette Altimus (Tara Reade’s mother) called Larry King Live in 1993 to reference her daughter’s experience in Washington. Soon after the initial report on the existence and transcript of the call, the video was unearthed and Reade confirmed it was her mother’s voice on the line.
Grim writes, “What the emergence of the call shows is that even if Reade’s memory is off on timing or details, the substance of her claims — in this case, that her mother called Larry King and discussed her situation — can still be true.”
As I wrote this update, Business Insider reported that two additional witnesses have gone on the record to corroborate Tara Reade’s story. There are now four separate individuals who confirm that Reade talked of the incident when it happened.
By contrast, Christine Blasey Ford did not tell anyone of the incident with Kavanaugh until a 2012 therapy session, as reported by the Washington Post: “Ford said she told no one of the incident in any detail until 2012, when she was in couples therapy with her husband. The therapist’s notes, portions of which were provided by Ford and reviewed by The Washington Post, do not mention Kavanaugh’s name but say she reported that she was attacked by students “from an elitist boys’ school” who went on to become “highly respected and high-ranking members of society in Washington.”
While I and many others believe both women to be credible, it is important to note the disparities in the way their stories have been treated by the media. One of the only methods of vetting allegations such as these is through determining whether the victim discussed the incident at the time that it occurred.
As Andrew Restuccia wrote for Politico in 2018, “Sussing out sexual assault or misconduct, especially involving incidents alleged to have taken place decades before, can be difficult. In many cases — including that of Kavanaugh’s first accuser, Christine Blasey Ford — women feel too ashamed to tell friends and relatives, making it hard for an FBI background investigation to detect. And FBI background checks also often don’t examine a nominee’s life before the age of 18.”
It is clear from these numerous reports that Tara Reade did tell people about the assault when it happened, and her story has not changed.
April 25th: Lebanese-American political strategist, activist, author, and former Clinton advisor Peter Daou tweeted a thread suggesting that Biden step down. He wrote:
“DIFFICULT THREAD -- #BIDEN SHOULD WITHDRAW
1. I respect the will of the voters.
2. But new information has emerged supporting #TaraReade's account of being sexually assaulted by #JoeBiden.
3. Credible rape accusations are disqualifying or we have NO moral standards.
4. Defeating Trump is NOT OPTIONAL.
5. To avoid potential catastrophe in Nov., #Biden should withdraw.
6. #Warren, #Harris, #Klobuchar, #Buttigieg, #Castro, etc. could replace Biden.
7. #Bernie can restart his campaign.
8. We can reboot the primary and give voters a choice.
9. This is the ethical position AND the smarter strategy to beat Trump.
10. We lose ALL moral authority if we embrace "the lesser of two accused rapists."
11. Polls show other Dem candidates can win.
PRINCIPLES MATTER. WE CAN BEAT TRUMP AND PROTECT OUR VALUES.
#DropOutBiden”
Seeing the message I have been trying to amplify for 4 weeks echoed by someone with a platform the size of Daou’s is both validating and encouraging. One thing is clear: these allegations are credible and Biden must step down.
Meanwhile, Alyssa Milano doubled down on her endorsement of Biden in an interview with Buzzfeed News on April 23rd.
While it isn't current, this opinion piece by Lucy Flores from April 17th of 2019 is worth revisiting:
“But in my case, Biden’s version of a friendly hug was his hands on my shoulders, his body close to mine, from behind, smelling my hair and planting a slow kiss on my head when we had no personal relationship whatsoever and just minutes before a stressful, high-profile public event.
For the other women who also had no previous personal relationship with Biden, it was his hand on the thigh of a sexual assault victim just minutes after disclosing her trauma at an It’s On Us event. It was Biden pulling in close to the face of a young sexual assault survivor while holding her hands. Biden pulling a woman’s face by the back of her neck to his own, so suddenly that she was horrified that he was about to kiss her. Characterizing this behavior as everyday, run-of-the-mill friendliness is grossly inaccurate, and whether they knew it or not, every last public commentator who referred to Biden as just being a “hugger” participated in the classic strategy of discrediting women who speak out against powerful men by minimizing the behavior.”