By its own lights, the New York Times took 19 days to report on allegations of sexual misconduct leveled against one of the candidates — presumptive Democratic nominee Joe Biden — by former Senate aide Tara Reade. To put that in perspective, in an election year 19 days is an eternity for a news outlet.
When the Times finally did publish something on Sunday, they went back and scrubbed mention of the former vice president’s proclivity for “hugs, kisses, and touching that women previously said made them feel uncomfortable. The lurid details of the alleged sexual encounter were never mentioned in the first place. The Times subsequently confessed to defanging the article at the behest of the Biden campaign.
As to why the paper was so slow to report on Reade’s charges, Executive Editor Dean Baquet excused the Times’s lack of coverage by suggesting the Reade story was not “a running, hot story” as the Brett Kavanaugh kerfuffle had been. Either Baquet is being disingenuous or he really fails to grasp that the Reade story would have become “running” and “hot” had the Times elected to report it.
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The Times is by no means the only media outlet to keep mum on the explosive allegations. In an article titled “CNN missing in action on Biden assault accuser Tara Reade’s story,” Fox News notes that:
Reade’s claim was not covered by the biggest media outlets following her March 25 interview with progressive podcast host Katie Halper. CNN, MSNBC and the three broadcast networks did not offer any on-air coverage or articles on their websites about the alleged assault. The New York Times and The Washington Post, two papers that dedicated extensive reporting to sex assault allegations made against Supreme Court Justice Brett Kavanaugh in 2018, were also mum on the matter. (RELATED: Ocasio-Cortez says it’s ‘legitimate to talk about’ allegation against Biden)
CNN was perhaps the most flagrant offender, according to RNC Chair Ronna McDaniel, who notes in a tweet:
CNN Search Results:
Christine Blasey Ford: 678
Tara Reade: 0https://t.co/ixUdMVH7rl— Ronna McDaniel (@GOPChairwoman) April 15, 2020
