CNN's Jake Tapper on Sunday called out Atlanta Mayor Keisha Lance Bottoms (D) for holding Tara Reade to a different standard than other sexual assault victims because she accused former Vice President Joe Biden of sexual assault.
"I have to ask you about Tara Reade, the former Biden staff member who has accused the former vice president of assaulting her in a Capitol Hill corridor in 1993. Vice President Biden denies these allegations. He says they're 100 percent false," Tapper said. "Do you find Tara Reade's allegations credible?"
"You know, what the vice president has said has been completely accurate. He's said that Tara Reade should be heard and should be taken seriously but I think we have to go to the next level and then vet what her allegations have been," the mayor explained. "And there's not been anyone whose been able to confirm that her allegations are accurate."
According to Lance Bottoms, she knows Biden to be a man "that respects women and again, not just in his words, but in his deeds." Specifically, she cited Biden authoring the Violence Against Women's Act (VAWA).
"He's been a very vocal proponent of making sure that women are protected across our college campuses and that's not the Joe Biden that I know," Lance Bottoms said.
Tapper was clearly caught off guard with the mayor's take on corroborating evidence.
"When you talk about no one with any objectivity, there are people in her world, her friends, and apparently her mother, who vouched for what she is saying," Tapper said. "I don't know what you mean when you say 'anybody with any objectivity.' I mean, that seems like a standard very few accusers would be able to meet."
"What I mean by that is aside from people who know her personally," the mayor replied. "I'm referring to the media who has had an opportunity to vet her allegation. Also, there's not been anyone who worked in the office at that time who could corroborate the allegations, the claims she made at that time. And also, being mindful of the fact that her story has changed over time."
There are a number of people who have come forward to corroborate Reade's story. There's the "Larry King Live" clip from 1993 when her mother called in asking for advice for her daughter. She reportedly told her brother, Collin Moulton, about the alleged assault. Court documents from 1996 show she told her ex-husband, Theodore Dronen, about the allegations. Reade's former neighbor, Lynda LaCasse, who is also a Democrat, recalled conversations about the alleged assault. Lorraine Sanchez, a co-worker in State Sen. Jack O'Connell's office where Reade worked after leaving D.C., said the two had conversations about the Biden allegations and Reade's ultimate dismissal for making the allegation.
As Tapper said, sexual assault survivors are most likely to open up to those who are closest to them. If every single victim had to have someone who was "objective" to vouch for their allegations, then prosecutors would fail to have a case against rapists and molesters.
What happened to believe all women?
CNN’s Jake Tapper calls out Democrat Atlanta Mayor Keisha Lance Bottoms for double standard for Tara Reade's allegations against Joe Biden pic.twitter.com/KwHJaXAmh9
— Steve Guest (@SteveGuest) May 10, 2020
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