“Kelly announced the sit-down on her Twitter account on Thursday, teasing “a ton of news” through tough questions in “a riveting exchange.” Kelly will host the exclusive interview on her own social media channels, as part of her recent venture back into the spotlight, following her chaotic run at NBC and long tenure at Fox News.” Source: variety.com/…
“She gets very candid, very emotional, and handles many direct challenges to her account. She also has a message directly for the former vice president,” Kelly told The Hill when contacted later on Thursday. Source: thehill.com/...
As other outlets have reported, since Megyn Kelly’s morning show on NBC was cancelled in 2018, she’s yet to land a network gig. However, she’s been doing interviews aired through her YouTube channel and Instagram account. As of this writing no date has been provided for the Reade interview Kelly announced today. Why Tara Reade would cancel her Fox interview yet agree to this YouTube interview with Kelly is simply odd.
Inconsistencies and historical context.
As a survivor of a sexual assault/near-rape, it’s been difficult to come to the conclusion I don’t believe Reade’s accusation against Biden.
I’ve read many articles, listened to Reade’s podcast with Katie Halper, and read many pieces here on Daily Kos pointing out the inconsistencies in her story.
Here are two I’ve found that I have not seen discussed elsewhere.
Tara Reade’s phone calls with her mother, Jeanette Altimus (who died in 2016).
During the Halpern interview, Reade mentions phone calls to her mother and her mother’s reactions at various junctions of her alleged harassment. After telling her mother about Biden penetrating her with his fingers in the hallway, she says her mother urged her to report the assault to the police:
At first, I said that something happened at work, it was kind of bad and she said, “kind of bad. What does that mean?” And she kept asking me questions. And then finally I said, well, I had an encounter with Senator Biden and it was, I just, I don’t know what to do. And she said, “what do you mean an encounter? What does that mean?”…And then she got impatient. “Tara, just tell me what you’re talking about.” I don’t remember how the whole conversation went from there. She was furious, she wanted to call the police. And then she was like, that’s assault.
Yet, the way Reade describes her mother’s adamant advice to file a police report seems at odds with what her mother, Jeanette Altimus, said on the call to the Larry King show in 1993:
"Yes, hello. I'm wondering what a staffer would do besides go to the press in Washington?" she asks. "My daughter has just left there after working for a prominent senator, and could not get through with her problems at all, and the only thing she could have done was go to the press, and she chose not to do it out of respect for him."
Accepting that this audio clip from the Larry King show is indeed Reade’s mother, why would she say her daughter’s only option was to go to the press when Reade says her mother told her to go to the police?
It’s also important to note how Reade characterized her mother’s phone call to the Larry King show when she was interviewed by the Intercept:
Reade told The Intercept that her mother called in asking for advice after Reade, then in her 20s, left Biden’s office. “I remember it being an anonymous call and her saying my daughter was sexually harassed and retaliated against and fired, where can she go for help? I was mortified…”
Clearly she does not remember her mother’s call to the show. Or, perhaps she hoped no one would find the clip? Because, when the Larry King clip was found and aired on TV, Reade’s mother said nothing about sexual harassment or that her daughter was fired.
Like many people, I don’t understand why Reade did not report her sexual assault by Biden in 2008 and again in 2012 when he was President Obama’s running mate. During that time span, her mother was still alive and could support her contemporaneous phone calls with her daughter.
Halper touches on this in the interview and asks why Reade stayed silent during President Obama’s 2008 and 2012 campaigns — Reade’s response was meandering and unclear to me other than she really liked President Obama. Then I found an article that mentioned something interesting about other historical context.
What was going on in Washington DC when Reade worked eight months at Biden’s senate office 1992-1993.
During the time period she worked for Biden’s office in DC, the Senate Ethics Committee was investigating Republican Sen. Bob Packwood for multiple claims of sexual assault reported by women staffers and lobbyists.
There were several articles published in leading newspapers in November of 1992 and the Packard story was at its height in 1993 when the committee issued a subpoena for a diary kept by Packard during his tenure.
None other than Mitch McConnell delivered a speech on the Senate floor in 1993, arguing for enforcement of the subpoena. "Are we up to the job?," McConnell asked rhetorically, though it was an open question at the time. "Can we through the instrument of the Ethics Committee impartially and thoroughly investigate incidences of misconduct by our colleagues and will we give the committee the authority it needs to get the job done right?"
This was all happening during the same time period Reade reports she was harassed and assaulted by Biden yet she claims she didn’t know who to turn to report her sexual assault? Why didn’t she go to the Senate Ethics Committee?
Add to this, I find it hard to believe Biden would risk committing such an assault when the Packard story was front page news.
Other reasons I don’t believe Tara Reade’s account of her assault.
In her own published writings, she has stated four different reasons she left her job at Biden’s DC office (click the year for links to Reade’s articles — hey’re very revealing of her personality):
2009: Reade says she left DC at the urging of then-boyfriend and future husband, Tate.
2018: Reade says she left DC because of US imperialism and xenophobia (the article in which she praises Putin).
2019: Reade said she was forced to resign by Biden’s staff.
2020: Reade tweets Biden fired her:
Lastly, a personal reason why I don’t believe Reade’s account of assault.
Fifty years ago, I was sexually assaulted after a one-hour coffee date at 7 pm on a Wednesday evening in January 1970. I was a 17-year-old freshman at a Brooklyn community college and living at home in Queens, NY, with my widowed mom and brother.
I can recall all the details on how I met the guy, what he said to my mom when he picked me up for our coffee date, and everything that happened just before, during and after the assault.
I can recall exactly what I was wearing on that freezing cold evening, what he was wearing, every detail of the car in which the attack took place (just outside the diner as people walked by his parked car). I can even recall the song playing on the radio as I fought him off.
I’ve known many other women who can also recall details of their assault.
Tara Reade was well into her 20s when her alleged assault happened yet doesn’t remember what building she was in and she doesn’t even recall the month when the assault allegedly took place — she can only provide a three-month window of when it may have happened. Really?
No matter how the Kelly interview of Reade goes down, I do not believe her.
Worse — I’m angry. I’m angry because she has demeaned all of the women and men who have told the truth about their sexual assaults, rape and abuse.
My feelings of anger have nothing to do with politics. Joe Biden was never among my candidate choices for the nominee of the Democratic Party.
After reading Tara Reade’s writings and listening to her last meandering interview, it’s clear to me she’s a troubled woman. But in this moment I’m angry at her — hopefully compassion will come later.
Thursday, May 7, 2020 · 11:12:30 PM +00:00
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DaisiesArePretty
I just read an article on Reade’s accusations that makes another good point:
So many details of her account strain credulity. In her telling, the sexual assault took place after she had already filed a sexual harassment claim. So we are expected to credit that Biden, knowing this, still elected to push her up against a wall and reach into her underwear — in a public place.
chicago.suntimes.com/...