Thoughts on The Sexual Assault Allegations Against Joe Biden

Presumptive Democratic nominee Joe Biden formally denied the sexual assault allegations leveled against him by his former Senate staffer Tara Reade in both a written statement and an interview with Mika Brzezinski on MSNBC's Morning Joe. The incident is alleged to have occurred on Capitol Hill in 1993.

The story originally broke in late March, but gained little attention as we were in the early days of the COVID-19 pandemic in the United States. However, the story regained steam after a clip emerged from a 1993 episode of Larry King Live which featured a call from a woman who appears to have been Reade's mother who spoke of her daughter having a problem with a prominent U.S. Senator though she did not describe the nature of the problem. Then came an account from Reade's former neighbor Lynda LaCasse who stated that Reade told her about the incident with Biden back in 1995 or 1996. Following these revelations pressure was brought to bear on Biden to formally comment on the matter.

Then President Trump weighed in yesterday. While Trump allowed that Biden might have been "falsely accused" he said Biden "should respond." Of course, Trump wants Biden to respond. It means people will talk less about injecting ourselves with disinfectants and his pitiful COVID-19 response. Yesterday's Trump might have stated Biden was falsely accused, but today's Trump put out a campaign ad against Biden on the Reade allegations. He smells blood in the water.

Reade claims that a record of her complaint is with Biden's Senate papers at the University of Delaware. Biden indicated that if Reade had filed a complaint a written record of that complaint would be with the National Archives, but the National Archives says it probably doesn't keep those kind of records. I think the National Archives should be a little more definitive than "probably." But if this requires Biden to keep talking about the subject there will be invariably be talk within Democratic circles about replacing him. All of which will make Trump grin from ear to ear.

Of course, Trump and his MAGATS are playing a weak hand. It's pretty hard to take their sanctimony regarding Biden seriously when they were more than happy to defend Trump after numerous women came forward to accuse him of sexual assault and defend his "grab them by the pussy" remarks on the Access Hollywood tape. Yes, the #MeToo movement stooged itself when it cries "believe all women" with the Democratic Party including Biden following in lockstep but do not hold the same standards when one of their own is accused (with perhaps the notable exception of Al Franken). But Trump supporters will only believe women if the allegation is against a Democrat. Especially a Democrat who can beat Trump. Biden is leading Trump in North Carolina by 7 points. This means Trump is in trouble and the only card they have to play is to destroy Biden since they can't brag about the economy anymore. Trump and his MAGATS only care about sexual assault if it helps them to remain in power.

Let us not forget Trump has viewed Biden as his biggest threat from the get-go. This is a man who withheld military aid approved by Congress to Ukraine and demanded its new President announce an investigation of Biden in order to get that funding restored and grant him a White House meeting. An act for which Trump was impeached by the House of Representatives. If Trump is willing to do this and willing to wear impeachment as a badge of honor then there is no telling what he and his MAGATS will do in the next six months.

There might be a silver lining for Biden though. It is worth noting that while LaCasse believes Reade's account of the incident she still intends to vote for Biden. LaCasse told NPR, "Biden isn't a bad guy. I think he's an OK guy. He just has this - this just happened. It just happened. It did happen."

Politicians are generally not held in high esteem. But if LaCasse is capable of believing the worse of Biden while at the same time believing he isn't a bad guy and is prepared to vote for him then chances are there are a lot of voters who think Trump is much, much worse.

It isn't exactly a ringing endorsement of Biden. But if the American electorate was willing to elect a presidential candidate with a litany of sexual assault allegations against him then there is a good chance this same electorate might be willing to overlook a single 27-year old sexual assault allegation made against him and might very well do so if more allegations come to follow.

Because as it stands now more than a million Americans have been infected with COVID-19 and nearly 65,000 Americans have died of it in less than 3 months. Who knows what those numbers will be come election day? Many Americans who do have their health have lost their jobs (myself included) and perhaps down the line lose their homes. Needless to say they are also scared of getting sick and so am I.

In the midst of all this, President Trump has consistently boasted of his ratings, complained about his treatment by the news media and railed against Governors, Congressional officials and, of course, Joe Biden. What he has not done is demonstrated any meaningful measure of empathy and sympathy towards the families of those who have died of COVID-19 or offer any kind of general reassurance a la FDR's fireside chats. Instead we get lies ("Anyone who wants a test can get a test.") and misinformation about injecting ourselves with disinfectants.

People might be talking about Biden today and over the weekend. But what happens when the unemployment figures come out? What happens when the death toll reaches 100,000? 250,000? What happens when Trump say something else stupid, his doofus son-in-law boasts of more "success stories" or the Vice-President won't wear a mask in a fucking hospital? People will be talking about Trump and not in a good way.

If the electorate associates death, despair and general incompetence with Trump (especially in the states which voted for him in 2016) then they won't give a moment's thought to what might have happened between Joe Biden and Tara Reade in 1993.