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Biden Accuser Tara Reade Slams CNN for Not Asking About Allegations in Interviews

Tara Reade, a woman who has accused Joe Biden of sexually assaulting her in 1993, said she is stunned that CNN anchors including Anderson Cooper have not questioned the presidential nominee about her allegations.

Last month Reade came forward and alleged that Biden kissed, groped, and digitally penetrated her against her will while she was serving as his aide. At the time, Biden was a Delaware senator.

Since Reade made the accusations, Biden has done numerous television interviews including on CNN, NBC, and ABC. The allegations were not brought up in one of those interviews. In an interview with Fox News, Reade said, “I think it’s shocking that this much time has passed and that he is an actual nominee for president and they’re not asking the questions. He’s been on ‘Anderson Cooper’ at least twice where he was not asked.”

She continued, “I guess my question is, if this were Donald Trump, would they treat it the same way? If this were Brett Kavanaugh, did they treat it the same way? In other words, it’s politics and political agenda playing a role in objective reporting and asking the question.”

Her allegations come in the era of the #MeToo movement, and a year after Christine Ford accused then-SCOTUS nominee Brett Kavanaugh of sexual assault. The mainstream media, including CNN, ran a large number of stories surrounding Ford’s decades-old accusations.

Reade told Fox News, “There are two things happening at once. [Biden] is not making himself accessible to be asked the question. And when he does make himself accessible, they are not asking, those anchors. And so that tells there may be a political agenda behind that and that’s gross. … I’m a survivor and I would like the question asked.”

She said that she has lost some faith in the media. “I really would look to [Cooper] for answers and I would never do that again. I’ve lost total respect.”

Last week a 1993 clip from CNN’s “Larry King Live” surfaced, in which a California resident phoned in and told King about about “problems” her daughter had with a “prominent senator.” Reade told Fox News that the caller in the clip was her mother.

Reade told progressive podcast host Katie Halper that in 1993, a senior member of Biden’s staff asked her to bring him a gym bag near the US Capitol building–that’s when the alleged encounter occurred.

Reade told Halper,”He greeted me, he remembered my name, and then we were alone. It was the strangest thing. There was no like, exchange really. He just had me up against the wall.”

She continued, “His hands were on me and underneath my clothes, and he went down my skirt and then up inside it and he penetrated me with his fingers and he was kissing me at the same time and he was saying some things to me. … I pulled away, he got finished doing what he was doing. He said, ‘Come on, man. I heard you liked me.’”

Biden’s campaign staff claims the story is not true. His Deputy Campaign Manager Kate Bedingfield said in a statement, “What is clear about this claim: it is untrue. This absolutely did not happen. Vice President Biden has dedicated his public life to changing the culture and the laws around violence against women. He authored and fought for the passage and reauthorization of the landmark Violence Against Women Act. He firmly believes that women have a right to be heard – and heard respectfully. Such claims should also be diligently reviewed by an independent press.”

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