Daily US Times: Since Tara Reade’s allegation against her former boss and former Vice President Joe Biden sexually assaulted her in 1993 emerged, media outlets have been trying to get some data that provides some early signs of how the accusations are playing with the public.
Joe Biden fully denied the allegations.
Now, some data have found and ‘ the news should be mildly encouraging for Biden backers’.
Almost 9 in 10 people (86%) said they have heard about the allegation in a new Monmouth University national poll.
The attenders said the allegations are not terribly surprising to them, given that Biden’s denial last Friday — he said the alleged incident “never happened”.
Poll shows the opinion about the trueness of the accusation is very very divided. Roughly 4 in 10 (37%) — say the allegation is “probably true” while 32% say it’s probably not true, and 31% have no opinion.
This is not good for Biden. Except that when you dig into the numbers one level further, you find this: Among the group that says the allegation against Biden is probably true, he still wins 1 in 3 of their votes.
What that means — at least at this relatively early stage in the general election race — is that there is a decent chunk of voters whose dislike for Trump or support for Biden overrides even their belief that Reade is telling the truth about Biden.
They so want Trump out that they are supporting Biden even in spite of believing the denied and unproven allegation that he sexually assaulted a woman in the early 1990s when he was a senator.
Why? Maybe the allegation has less resonance with the public in the age of Trump. During his 2016 campaign, more than a dozen women accused him of sexual harassment or assault. A 2005 video surfaced in which he bragged about groping women — and he won anyway.
Last week, White House press secretary Kayleigh McEnany seemed to suggest that voters either didn’t believe the accusations against Trump or didn’t care.
She said in response to a reporter’s question: “You’re bringing up issues, like I said, from four years ago, that were asked and answered, and the American people had their say in the matter when they elected President Trump as President of the United States.”
It also might be that some voters, at least 32%, who believ Tara Reade’s allegation against Biden, but support him over Trump anyway. They might be simply prioritize other things over this allegation. Like Trump’s policy positions, the way he has acted in office, Or one of a million abnormal things Trump and his administration have done while in office, Or even his response to the coronavirus pandemic.
Monmouth numbers seem to suggest something old political hands have long known: Reelection races are ALWAYS a referendum on the incumbent. And to beat an incumbent, 95% of the work is in convincing people he needs to be fired while the last 5% is persuading people that you are capable of doing the job, if hired.
What is Biden accused for?
Ms Reade was working as a staff assistant to Mr Biden from 1992-93, when he was a senator for the US state of Delaware.
Now 56-year old woman says that in 1993 he forced her up against a wall in the halls of Congress, and put his hands under her shirt and skirt, penetrating her with a finger, after she delivered him his gym bag.
She told podcast host Katie Halper in March: “I remember him saying, first, as he was doing it ‘Do you want to go somewhere else?’ and then him saying to me, when I pulled away… he said ‘Come on man, I heard you liked me.’”
Ms Reade explained her most detailed and graphic account of the alleged assault to US media personality Megyn Kelly. She said that Biden kissed her neck and told her he wanted to have sex with her, using an obscene term.
She said: “So, he had one hand underneath my shirt, and the other had, I had a skirt on, and he went down my skirt and then went up and I remember I was up almost on my tippy toes.”
“When he went inside the skirt, he was talking to me at the same time, and he was leaning into me and I pulled this way away from his head.” When she refused his advances, she said: “He looked at me and said, ‘What the hell, man, I heard you liked me’.”
She added: “He pointed his finger at me and he said ‘You’re nothing to me. You’re nothing’.”
When Ms Reade was asked if she wanted Mr Biden to withdraw from the race, she replied: “I wish he would, but he won’t, but I wish he would. That’s how I feel emotionally.”
She also offered a lie detector test about her claim but the condition is Mr Biden have to do that also.
She said: “I will take one if Joe Biden takes one.”
She said she has been facing tremendous harassment in social media and getting death threats after stepping up about the alleged incident.
