Joe Biden’s campaign has circulated talking points to Democrats about Tara Reade’s sexual assault allegations — coaching them to say the incident “did not happen,” according to a new report.
The memo was sent to the former veep’s top Democratic supporters after The New York Times published an investigation this month examining claims from Reade that she was assaulted by Biden in 1993 while working as a staffer for the then-senator.
While Biden has yet to comment on the allegations, his campaign is seeking to squash the rumor by inaccurately claiming the Times report found the incident didn’t take place.
“Biden believes that all women have the right to be heard and to have their claims thoroughly reviewed,” the memo, obtained by Buzzfeed News, reads.
“In this case, a thorough review by the New York Times has led to the truth: this incident did not happen,” it continued.
While the investigation found no pattern of sexual assault allegations against Biden, 77, it was unable to draw a conclusion on the credibility of Reade’s claim that the presumptive Democratic nominee pinned her against a wall, reached under her skirt and assaulted her.
“Here’s the bottom line,” the memo added, per the report. “Vice President Joe Biden has spent over 40 years in public life: 36 years in the Senate; 7 Senate campaigns, 2 previous presidential runs, two vice presidential campaigns, and 8 years in the White House. There has never been a complaint, allegation, hint or rumor of any impropriety or inappropriate conduct like this regarding him — ever.”
The talking points echo remarks made by former Georgia gubernatorial candidate Stacey Abrams, who is openly campaigning to be Biden’s vice president.
In an interview with CNN’s Don Lemon on Tuesday night, Abrams also claimed the Times report exonerated Biden.
“I believe that women deserve to be heard and I believe they need to be listened to, but I also believe that those allegations have to be investigated by credible sources,” she said.
“The New York Times did a deep investigation and they found that the accusation was not credible. I believe Joe Biden,” she continued, before touting his “love of family.”
“I know Joe Biden and I think he’s telling the truth and that this did not happen.”
The allegations, which come in the wake of the #MeToo movement, put many Democrats in a difficult position after they came out in support of Justice Brett Kavanaugh’s accuser, Christine Blasey Ford, during his 2018 confirmation hearings.
This week, a former neighbor of Reade came forward to say the former Senate staffer told her about the attack in the mid-1990s.