# Former staffer accuses Joe Biden of sexual assault **URL:** \ **Category:** Politics & Elections\ **Created:** [March 27, 2020, 3:13am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/former-staffer-accuses-joe-biden-of-sexual-assault/850393 "2020-03-27T03:13:05Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 30
**Author:** ![Sherrerd](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/sherrerd/32/8_2.png) [@Sherrerd](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sherrerd)\ **Post date:** [April 30, 2020, 11:56pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/former-staffer-accuses-joe-biden-of-sexual-assault/850393/581 "2020-04-30T23:56:12Z")
> [@Warm\_blood](#): > > I don’t know which video you’re specifically talking about, but if it’s in reference the photo in which he pretends to grope his first accuser Leeann Tweeden in her sleep, it’s already been explained that it was a skit grossly taken out of context. In retrospect, the accusers greatly exaggerated the extent of how violated they were by him. Franken folded like a tent under pressure from his colleagues and resigned in disgrace rather than fight to clear his name. It set a god awful precedent that is now coming back to haunt the democrats. There’s an excellent article in the New Yorker that delves into this: [The Case of Al Franken | The New Yorker](https://www.newyorker.com/magazine/2019/07/29/the-case-of-al-franken) > > On that note,\*\* it’s rather funny that some people here and elsewhere are accusing the Democrats of being hypocrites for not prosecuting Biden the way they did Kavanaugh, completely ignoring that democrats were pretty hard on one of their own who was accused of misconduct a year before Kavanaugh was nominated to the Supreme Court. Meanwhile I’ve yet to see Republicans be this willing to condemn a fellow party member who is credibly accused of sexual assault\*\*. And on top of that, we’ve yet to see a Republican employ the ‘hypocrisy accusation’ tactic to say ‘_you Democrats are so quick to dismiss Biden’s accuser, yet you never dismiss Trump’s accusers!_’ Oddly enough, it’s always _Kavanaugh_ who gets employed in that argument—never Trump. It’s absolutely, consistently predictable. (For obvious reasons, of course.) I had thought I’d refrain from posting in this thread, given how attractive it’s been to account-writers who are clearly allergic to good-faith argumentation. But this is an avenue of attack that (just as clearly) will be employed again and again, even if Reade’s accusations are fully investigated and consequently discredited. Someone else will be brought forward. So far, though, Reade is the best the right has been able to do. That’s actually fairly encouraging. If Trump can’t get China to cooperate with anti-Biden accusations (and his current posture toward China doesn’t seem likely to get them to help him out), and Ukraine is useless as a source of anti-Biden accusations, given the way it’s strongly associated with Trump’s penchant for extortion----well, what else can Trump come up with? I do think they’ll bring forward another woman, if the Reade accusation fizzles. But if Reade was their best shot, then the tactic may backfire on the right–reminding many of Trump’s vulnerabilities, while failing to dirty-up Biden enough to make a difference. (my bolding in the quote) ---
**Author:** ![xenophon41](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/xenophon41/32/253_2.png) [@xenophon41](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/xenophon41)\ **Post date:** [May 1, 2020, 12:08am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/former-staffer-accuses-joe-biden-of-sexual-assault/850393/582 "2020-05-01T00:08:51Z")
> [@thorny\_locust](#): > > Al Franken was caught on video, and admitted the behavior. I don’t see how you can claim that was a false accusation. This is a perfect example of how so many on the correct side of this issue are also suckers for right wing manipulation. You’ve got even the most basic fact about the Tweeden accusation wrong (it was a photo, not a video) and you’re uncritically accepting that Franken’s admission that the photo was real was a verification of the accusation (“Al Franken _molested me while I was sleeping!!!”_). I’ve seen claims by so-called Progressives all over the internets that Al Franken is a “serial abuser” because other women noted that he’s a physically forward guy who some times puts his hands on people (which includes the subset of ‘women’) without their prior approval. Like Biden does. But because much of the “left” is humorless about many subjects, they a) didn’t get the context of the **photo** (a tour to entertain troops during which all parties -including Tweeden- catered to the mostly juvenile and mostly earthy tastes of military personnel (mostly men), and b) didn’t even get the fucking joke (Tweeden is wearing a _flak jacket_ in the photo. Do you know how you can distinguish a male torso from a female torso by feeling their chest through that garment? Answer: you’d kinda have to guess based on the padding underneath; it’s an inherently ridiculous action for mock ‘lecher Al’ to feel up a woman wearing one.), and also c) didn’t or weren’t mentally equipped to consider the clear context of the accused’s career accomplishments, stance and policy priorities regarding _literally every important issue_ regarding American women and women’s rights. Don’t continue falling for stupifyingly clear rightwing ratfucking. ---
**Author:** ![Organism](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/o/eb8c5e/32.png) [@Organism](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Organism)\ **Post date:** [May 1, 2020, 12:10am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/former-staffer-accuses-joe-biden-of-sexual-assault/850393/583 "2020-05-01T00:10:26Z")
> [@dalej42](#): > > Except that Come on, Man wasn’t a thing until a few years ago. You can’t actually be one of those people who thinks that no one said “Come on, man” until recently but it would explain a lot. ---
**Author:** ![QuickSilver](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/quicksilver/32/7832_2.png) [@QuickSilver](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/QuickSilver)\ **Post date:** [May 1, 2020, 12:38am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/former-staffer-accuses-joe-biden-of-sexual-assault/850393/584 "2020-05-01T00:38:08Z")
> [@Warm\_blood](#): > > I don’t know which video you’re specifically talking about, but if it’s in reference the photo in which he pretends to grope his first accuser Leeann Tweeden in her sleep, it’s already been explained that it was a skit grossly taken out of context. In retrospect, the accusers greatly exaggerated the extent of how violated they were by him. Franken folded like a tent under pressure from his colleagues and resigned in disgrace rather than fight to clear his name. It set a god awful precedent that is now coming back to haunt the democrats. There’s an excellent article in the New Yorker that delves into this: [The Case of Al Franken | The New Yorker](https://www.newyorker.com/magazine/2019/07/29/the-case-of-al-franken) > > On that note, it’s rather funny that some people here and elsewhere are accusing the Democrats of being hypocrites for not prosecuting Biden the way they did Kavanaugh, completely ignoring that democrats were pretty hard on one of their own who was accused of misconduct a year before Kavanaugh was nominated to the Supreme Court. Meanwhile I’ve yet to see Republicans be this willing to condemn a fellow party member who is credibly accused of sexual assault. And excellent article and I hope an even better reminder of how democrats and progressives chose expedience over nuance to throw Franken under the bus without due process and because of panic and fear of a “bad news cycle”. ---
**Author:** ![Lamoral](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/lamoral/32/16078_2.png) [@Lamoral](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Lamoral)\ **Post date:** [May 1, 2020, 12:47am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/former-staffer-accuses-joe-biden-of-sexual-assault/850393/585 "2020-05-01T00:47:14Z")
> [@xenophon41](#): > > But because much of the “left” is humorless about many subjects, they a) didn’t get the context of the **photo** (a tour to entertain troops during which all parties -including Tweeden- catered to the mostly juvenile and mostly earthy tastes of military personnel (mostly men), and b) didn’t even get the fucking joke (Tweeden is wearing a _flak jacket_ in the photo. Do you know how you can distinguish a male torso from a female torso by feeling their chest through that garment? Answer: you’d kinda have to guess based on the padding underneath; it’s an inherently ridiculous action for mock ‘lecher Al’ to feel up a woman wearing one.). Also I thought that the chest is not a sexual organ. The narrative that I’ve seen put forward time and again by the woke crowd is that a woman’s breasts are not inherently sexual at all; that in fact women should be able to go topless, just as men do; that we need to “free the nipple” because the nipple is utterly void of any sexual meaning. It’s a chest. Right? ---
**Author:** ![River\_Hippie](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/river_hippie/32/26_2.png) [@River\_Hippie](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/River_Hippie)\ **Post date:** [May 1, 2020, 12:47am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/former-staffer-accuses-joe-biden-of-sexual-assault/850393/586 "2020-05-01T00:47:23Z")
Would it be reasonable to expect that before Obama, H. Clinton, Sanders and [these endorsers](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_Joe_Biden_2020_presidential_campaign_endorsements) voiced public support for Biden, they would have had their own people investigate Uncle Joe for any possible wrongdoing before they endorsed him and tied their personal reputations to his? I mean, I can’t believe the Obamas would endorse Biden without being damn sure they wouldn’t go down in history as backing a sexual abuser. ---
**Author:** ![Organism](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/o/eb8c5e/32.png) [@Organism](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Organism)\ **Post date:** [May 1, 2020, 12:54am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/former-staffer-accuses-joe-biden-of-sexual-assault/850393/587 "2020-05-01T00:54:11Z")
> [@Lamoral](#): > > Also I thought that the chest is not a sexual organ. The narrative that I’ve seen put forward time and again by the woke crowd is that a woman’s breasts are not inherently sexual at all; that in fact women should be able to go topless, just as men do; that we need to “free the nipple” because the nipple is utterly void of any sexual meaning. It’s a chest. > > Right? That this sort of “thinking” is not deemed inherently offensive is an indictment of this place. Is routine mockery of people who’d prefer that the world be less of a rapist’s playground and willful misunderstanding of basic ideas acceptable here? I’d think you might be creating a very uncomfortable place for, oh I don’t know, most of the world’s population by allowing it? ---
**Author:** ![Lamoral](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/lamoral/32/16078_2.png) [@Lamoral](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Lamoral)\ **Post date:** [May 1, 2020, 12:55am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/former-staffer-accuses-joe-biden-of-sexual-assault/850393/588 "2020-05-01T00:55:14Z")
It is what it is. ---
**Author:** ![Boycott](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/boycott/32/6741_2.png) [@Boycott](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Boycott)\ **Post date:** [May 1, 2020, 12:57am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/former-staffer-accuses-joe-biden-of-sexual-assault/850393/589 "2020-05-01T00:57:08Z")
> [@River\_Hippie](#): > > Would it be reasonable to expect that before Obama, H. Clinton, Sanders and [these endorsers](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_Joe_Biden_2020_presidential_campaign_endorsements) voiced public support for Biden, they would have had their own people investigate Uncle Joe for any possible wrongdoing before they endorsed him and tied their personal reputations to his? **I mean, I can’t believe the Obamas would endorse Biden without being damn sure they wouldn’t go down in history as backing a sexual abuser.** That’s one way of looking at it. Another way is that I don’t believe Obama would have picked a Vice President who was guilty of that and I don’t believe that the Republican operatives who threw everything to take down Obama (remember Larry Sinclair?) would have missed it. ---
**Author:** ![QuickSilver](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/quicksilver/32/7832_2.png) [@QuickSilver](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/QuickSilver)\ **Post date:** [May 1, 2020, 1:04am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/former-staffer-accuses-joe-biden-of-sexual-assault/850393/590 "2020-05-01T01:04:59Z")
> [@Lamoral](#): > > It is what it is. Okay, but what is it? ---
**Author:** ![Ludovic](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/7ab992/32.png) [@Ludovic](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ludovic)\ **Post date:** [May 1, 2020, 1:12am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/former-staffer-accuses-joe-biden-of-sexual-assault/850393/591 "2020-05-01T01:12:03Z")
It’s it! What is it? ---
**Author:** ![QuickSilver](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/quicksilver/32/7832_2.png) [@QuickSilver](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/QuickSilver)\ **Post date:** [May 1, 2020, 1:17am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/former-staffer-accuses-joe-biden-of-sexual-assault/850393/592 "2020-05-01T01:17:04Z")
> [@Ludovic](#): > > It’s it! What is it? Epic. ---
**Author:** ![Warm\_blood](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/df705f/32.png) [@Warm\_blood](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Warm_blood)\ **Post date:** [May 1, 2020, 1:26am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/former-staffer-accuses-joe-biden-of-sexual-assault/850393/593 "2020-05-01T01:26:18Z")
> [@QuickSilver](#): > > Epic. Yooooouuuuu waaaannnt it all but you caaaannn’t haaaaaave it… ---
**Author:** ![xenophon41](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/xenophon41/32/253_2.png) [@xenophon41](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/xenophon41)\ **Post date:** [May 1, 2020, 1:44am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/former-staffer-accuses-joe-biden-of-sexual-assault/850393/594 "2020-05-01T01:44:27Z")
> [@Organism](#): > > That this sort of “thinking” is not deemed inherently offensive is an indictment of this place. Not really. It’s an indication that this place welcomes people willing to engage. Some of those people are assholes. I’ll admit that I’m an asshole sometimes. But people put their opinions and ideas out here for discussion, which is what **Lamoral** did. I happen to agree that **Lamoral** ’s opinion about what “woke” people say about women’s breasts is bullshit. Also offensive. But we can discuss it. **Lamoral** , the point about “free the nipple” is a recognition of the disparity between the societal acceptance of male sexuality versus female sexuality; it’s not some sort of artificial blindness to the erotic nature of the female breast. “Woke” people recognize the nurturing nature along with the wonderful sexy nature of tits. Don’t be a dick. 😉 The point is to accept the equal agency, equal relevance and equal rights of all genders and orientations. That’s all. ---
**Author:** ![Ale](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/f19dbf/32.png) [@Ale](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ale)\ **Post date:** [May 1, 2020, 1:56am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/former-staffer-accuses-joe-biden-of-sexual-assault/850393/595 "2020-05-01T01:56:31Z")
> [@Warm\_blood](#): > > I feel that threads like this one are a good litmus test for seeing whose critical thinking skills can overcome partisanship and whose cannot. They also provide ample evidence that intellectual dishonesty and hypocrisy aren’t exclusive to right-wingers by any means. > > With that being said, John Stamos’s Left Ear wrote the best post in this thread yet. The knee-jerk “you’re a hypocrite if you don’t react to this like you reacted to Trump/Kavanaugh” and pious virtue-signalling that’s supposed to symbolize a commitment to progressive ideology that doesn’t respect party lines all betray an abject unwillingness to examine the facts from all sides. > > The facts? Reade’s story has evolved **wildly** in the time she’s come forward about Biden’s conduct towards her. While it may be common for sexual assault victims to not be perfectly consistent in accounting the details of their assault, the extreme fluctuations in Reade’s multiple revisions cannot be explained away by trauma screwing with her memory. Victims may not always be able to remember the exact time, place, clothing worn, etc. but what they don’t forget is the severity of the assault. Someone who was pinned against a wall and penetrated against her will isn’t going to misremember that event to the point of conflating it with unwanted non-sexual touching. That just doesn’t happen. > > Her effusive praise for a dictator who’s meddled in the US elections (and plans on doing so again) that she’s made sure to delete once she made public her new allegations against Biden. It’s very relevant. > > All the people corroborating her story are either family members (which makes them too biased to be considered reliable sources) or friends only speaking on the condition of anonymity (gee, I wonder why?). The only non-relative willing to their name out there is her neighbour, who for some reason remembers the assault better than the actual victim. Hmm. And of course that neighbour is a self-proclaimed Biden supporter, would they be taken seriously at all if they claimed otherwise? > > The Larry King Live phone call that is assumed to be her mother— like I said before, too vague, no mention of sexual misconduct of any kind. > > Meanwhile, no other allegations of sexual assault against Biden have surfaced. Sure, the night is still young but he’s been called out for getting handsy with women since last year. Multiple women came forward all at once, video footage of him inappropriately hugging little girls went viral, and all of this happened in a post-MeToo world. There wasn’t a better time for a woman who’s been sexually assaulted by Biden to speak up. If no one seized on the opportunity to say something then, that says a lot on its own. > > People and news sources who are usually sympathetic to sexual assault victims and believe in giving accusers the platform to be heard have for the most part refrained from supporting Reade due to her credibility issues, including Ronan Farrow. Yes, _that_ Ronan Farrow. Again, it says a lot. > > As an aside, it appears that her late dad (whom she’s also accused of sexual assault, interestingly enough) was a romance novelist who [wrote a scene in one of his books that eerily mirrors the alleged assault his daughter describes](https://mobile.twitter.com/kyle_teamjoe/status/1255755789173764097). Never mind critical thinking, it lays bare the deep siege mentality of most people dismissing Reade, including you with things like bringing up Russia. ---
**Author:** ![xenophon41](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/xenophon41/32/253_2.png) [@xenophon41](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/xenophon41)\ **Post date:** [May 1, 2020, 1:59am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/former-staffer-accuses-joe-biden-of-sexual-assault/850393/596 "2020-05-01T01:59:33Z")
By the way, on re-read, I realize I forgot what forum I’m posting in. I may get a warning for the “don’t be a dick” comment, and I accept that. I want to say to **Lamoral** , I’m not calling you a “dick”. I just thought it might be a clever punnish admonition in context. I let my inner smartass out to play without recognizing the playground. ---
**Author:** ![PhillyGuy](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/ed655f/32.png) [@PhillyGuy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/PhillyGuy)\ **Post date:** [May 1, 2020, 2:00am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/former-staffer-accuses-joe-biden-of-sexual-assault/850393/597 "2020-05-01T02:00:46Z")
> [@Organism](#): > > I’d think you might be creating a very uncomfortable place for, oh I don’t know, most of the world’s population by allowing it? In the U.S. over 50 million women voted for Donald Trump. Some of your own statements might make them feel uncomfortable. While women outside the U.S. tend to have a more uniformly negative view of Donald Trump than those here, that could lead many to require a high standard of proof when someone says Trump’s apparent chief electoral opponent is a rapist. And you don’t have to be male to question reliance on hearsay evidence. It would be great if this board had more demographic diversity. But I would value ideological diversity more. And it might be that they would both go together. I am not a Trumpist. But treating them as if they have cooties does no one good. And I’m going out on a limb and say that millions of women would agree with me. If they were here. Which you say, if I understand correctly, they are not. ---
**Author:** ![xenophon41](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/xenophon41/32/253_2.png) [@xenophon41](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/xenophon41)\ **Post date:** [May 1, 2020, 2:18am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/former-staffer-accuses-joe-biden-of-sexual-assault/850393/598 "2020-05-01T02:18:14Z")
“Deep siege mentality.” Gosh, wonder where that came from. And “bringing up Russia” as if that’s even relevant regarding Biden, Trump and the 2020 election. \ ---
**Author:** ![Lamoral](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/lamoral/32/16078_2.png) [@Lamoral](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Lamoral)\ **Post date:** [May 1, 2020, 2:27am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/former-staffer-accuses-joe-biden-of-sexual-assault/850393/599 "2020-05-01T02:27:03Z")
> [@xenophon41](#): > > By the way, on re-read, I realize I forgot what forum I’m posting in. I may get a warning for the “don’t be a dick” comment, and I accept that. I want to say to **Lamoral** , I’m not calling you a “dick”. I just thought it might be a clever punnish admonition in context. I let my inner smartass out to play without recognizing the playground. It’s OK, I was being a smartass in the first place. ---
**Author:** ![dalej42](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/67e7ee/32.png) [@dalej42](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/dalej42)\ **Post date:** [May 1, 2020, 3:14am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/former-staffer-accuses-joe-biden-of-sexual-assault/850393/600 "2020-05-01T03:14:44Z")
> [@Boycott](#): > > That’s one way of looking at it. > > Another way is that I don’t believe Obama would have picked a Vice President who was guilty of that and I don’t believe that the Republican operatives who threw everything to take down Obama (remember Larry Sinclair?) would have missed it. And I kinda remember a guy, Senator in fact, who was being flamed for his choice of Vice President in 2008 John McCain knew every skeleton and where every body was buried. He could probably tell you about a senator who didn’t wash his hands in the men’s room and what color tie he was wearing that day back in 1992. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/former-staffer-accuses-joe-biden-of-sexual-assault/850393.md?page=29) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/former-staffer-accuses-joe-biden-of-sexual-assault/850393.md?page=31)