The Associated Press has an exclusive on Saturday claiming that Tara Reade has said a Senate report she filed against Joe Biden referred to neither sexual harassment or assault.
Tara Reade says a Senate report she filed against Joe Biden didn’t refer to sexual harassment or assault. https://t.co/J3B4PIIUdp
— The Associated Press (@AP) May 2, 2020
It looks like the Los Angeles Times quickly picked up on the AP’s exclusive:
Tara Reade says her 1993 complaint against Joe Biden did not accuse him of assault https://t.co/lAQs6cEE1X
— Los Angeles Times (@latimes) May 2, 2020
Washington Post conservative blogger and Joe Biden fan Jennifer Rubin says that Reade is less and less credible by the moment:
less credible by the moment… https://t.co/cEIeKT6EvK
— Jennifer Rubin (@JRubinBlogger) May 2, 2020
Joe Scarborough is pretty excited as well, especially after his wife elicited a flat-out denial from Biden on “Morning Joe” Friday:
Big developments since @Morning_Joe interview yesterday:
1. Biden accuser cancels interview with Chris Wallace on Fox News.
2. Now says her complaints did not complain of sexual harassment or assault. https://t.co/jbq0RVbLDe— Joe Scarborough (@JoeNBC) May 2, 2020
But Reade herself says the AP headline is false — it’s misleading at best.
This is false. https://t.co/w4yXGI1DQm
— taratweets ( Alexandra Tara Reade) (@ReadeAlexandra) May 2, 2020
This @AP headline is incredibly misleading. Whether or not Tara Reade used the word "harassment" in her alleged complaint, what she describes here fits the legal definition of harassment. This was 1993; "harassment" had barely just entered the lexicon. https://t.co/bBBn8qg9H5
— Jessica Bennett (@jessicabennett) May 2, 2020
This is at the bottom of the AP report about Reade's alleged complaint in 1993. https://t.co/pJMl0rWJn0 pic.twitter.com/zfsoPlJurH
— ??? ???? (@JayCostTWS) May 2, 2020
Help me because I've lost track: How many examples of contemporaneous corroboration does that make this now? Five?
— ???? ???? ?? ??. ?????-?? (@BecketAdams) May 2, 2020
If we count the brother, the mom, the next door neighbor … does this make five?
— ??? ???? (@JayCostTWS) May 2, 2020
Wait … rereading the AP report, I think there was another friend. So six?
— ??? ???? (@JayCostTWS) May 2, 2020
Something tells me Rubin didn't read to the end of the AP report (if she even read it all). pic.twitter.com/UWrIthBxwZ
— ???? ???? ?? ??. ?????-?? (@BecketAdams) May 2, 2020
Could have stopped after "read"
— neontaster (@neontaster) May 2, 2020
Headline vs. What the article *actually* says:
Tara Reade says she didn’t accuse Biden of assault in ‘93 because she was *afraid* to do so, not because it didn’t happen https://t.co/X4gy4LhycZ pic.twitter.com/YOWIuK2QLi— Harry Khachatrian (@Harry1T6) May 2, 2020
Here’s what the AP reports:
Tara Reade, the former Senate staffer who alleges Joe Biden sexually assaulted her 27 years ago, says she filed a limited report with a congressional personnel office that did not explicitly accuse him of sexual assault or harassment.
“I remember talking about him wanting me to serve drinks because he liked my legs and thought I was pretty and it made me uncomfortable,” Reade said in an interview Friday with The Associated Press. “I know that I was too scared to write about the sexual assault.”
Reade said she described her issues with Biden but “the main word I used — and I know I didn’t use sexual harassment — I used ‘uncomfortable.’ And I remember ‘retaliation.’”
It sure sounds like sexual harassment, at least by 2020 standards.
At least there is some contemporaneous evidence that something actually happened with Tara Reade. There was no such evidence to support any of the crazy allegations against Kavanaugh. https://t.co/FhvqxnD17Q
— Ken Gardner (@KenGardner11) May 2, 2020
I’d say that “I remember talking about him wanting me to serve drinks because he liked my legs and thought I was pretty and it made me uncomfortable,” is considered sexual harassment whether you use the term or not.
— Viktor Dokulevski (@Dokule) May 2, 2020
The article says that Tara said she didn’t explicitly use the terms ‘sexual harrasment’ or ‘sexual assault’ in the report, but the report has allegations that obviously amount to harrasment. So yeah that headline is incredibly misleading
— Josh (@awildbread) May 2, 2020
Thank you for clarifying. They’re really trying to smear you right now.
— Tuck Frump (@sinnerous) May 2, 2020
They’re quoting you.
— The Centrist Reporter (@CentristReports) May 2, 2020
The headline?
No, that's not a quote. And the use of "refer" in the headline shouldn't have made it through the editorial process.
— Won Jin (@SkyLightPattern) May 2, 2020
They quoted you directly.
— Insipid (@insipid42) May 2, 2020
The headline is not a direct quote or they would have put quotation marks around the part they're quoting.
— AubinMagnus (@AubinMagnus) May 2, 2020
what a terrible headline and tweet. the article clearly states that, even if you didn't use the term, you made a report against sexual harassment & retaliation. whether or not you shared every single detail, know that many of us still believe you, support you, and have your back.
— free them all + house them too (@theleilaraven) May 2, 2020
— Freckles_McFreckleson ?? (@freckled_frack) May 2, 2020
Related:
‘Wait, what??’ NY Times columnist has ‘profound unease and confusion’ over Tara Reade’s allegation against Biden (guess why) https://t.co/fzVytY9gZF
— Twitchy Team (@TwitchyTeam) May 2, 2020
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