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Joe Biden speaks at a community event in Burlington, Iowa. (AP Photo/Charlie Neibergall)
MORNING JOE
With pressure mounting, former Vice President Joe Biden on Friday morning personally denied a sexual assault allegation against him. It was the first time that the presumptive Democratic nominee for president has spoken directly about the accusation made by Tara Reade, a former Senate aide who says Biden sexually assaulted her in 1993.
- “They aren’t true. This never happened,” Biden wrote in a Medium post Friday.
- Shortly after the statement was published, he doubled down in an interview with MSNBC’s Mika Brzezinski. “I assure you it did not happen,” he told Brzezinski. “Period. Period.”
Brzezinski repeatedly questioned Biden on comments he made in 2018 about sexual assault allegations against Supreme Court Justice Brett Kavanaugh.
- During the interview, Brzezinski read Biden’s own words back to him, including that we must “start off with the presumption that at least the essence” of what women who allege that they've been sexually assaulted are saying is “real.”
- Biden, after he was repeatedly pressed, told Brzezinski that if “women come forward and say something that they said happened to them, they should start off with the presumption that they’re telling the truth. Then you have to look at the circumstances and the facts.” Facts he says are not there in Reade’s case.
The accusation of sexual assault first became public in March when Reade went on progressive commentator Katie Halper’s podcast.
- Reade alleged that Biden penetrated her with his fingers in a Senate office building in 1993. She said she filed a personnel report at the time and told others in Biden’s office about it.
- Biden’s campaign immediately denied the account. Several people, including Reade’s brother, corroborated elements of her story shortly after the interview.
- Reade said she filed a police report about the alleged incident on April 9, 2020, because she was being harassed about the accusations online.
- In interviews with Business Insider that published Monday, two more people corroborated aspects of Reade’s story.
During the MSNBC interview Friday, Brzezinski also highlighted statements from three key Biden surrogates — all women who have been scrutinized this week for supporting Biden.
- Brzezinski noted that when Christine Blasey Ford — the woman who accused Kavanaugh of sexual assault — came forward in 2018, former Georgia gubernatorial candidate Stacey Abrams, Sen. Kirsten Gillibrand and House Speaker Nancy Pelosi all emphasized that women must be believed.
- All three women — and numerous other high-profile female politicians — have continued to publicly support Biden amid these allegations.
Prior to his interview with Brzezinski, Biden had been noticeably silent about the accusations.
Tara Reade has yet to make the rounds on major TV networks — but that could change soon.
- She told Buzzfeed that until the last day or two, Fox News was the only major network to reach out for an on-camera interview. She has turned down several offers, including a primetime spot with Sean Hannity.
- After the announcement that Biden would appear on MSNBC, all four of the major networks reached out to Reade. She is still deciding where she will do her first on-camera interview.
— Abby Johnston
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TIME FOR CHANGE
The United Nations estimates that nearly 9 in 10 Sudanese women have experienced genital mutilation, a practice that was outlawed in the country last week.
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 What we're reading
The “women’s work” of the pandemic. From sewing masks and volunteering in the community to shopping, cooking, cleaning and teaching kids at home, the tasks often seen as “women’s work” continue to inordinately fall to, well, women. (Vox, April 30)
Why Are More Men Than Women Dying Of COVID-19? A look at the biological and behavioral differences that could account for the higher fatality rate among males. (FiveThirtyEight, April 30)
Female NHS staff at risk due to not being able to ‘access protective gear correctly sized for women.’ The British Medical Association said that personal protective equipment, or PPE, “tend to be designed to the size and shape of male bodies,” leaving women with ill-fitting gear during the pandemic. (The Independent, April 21)
'Mentally, That's a Whole 'Nother Ball Game.' After the Olympics were postponed until next summer, Simone Biles cried, knowing the toll time takes on an elite athlete’s body. “Can my body do another year? Can I do another year?” (Sports Illustrated, April 29)
Two Women, Two Career Paths and a Shared Passion: Cars. A fascinating glimpse into off-road desert racing and the road two women took to find their love of the sport. (The New York Times, April 30)
📺 Watch: The proceeds from Beyoncé and Megan Thee Stallion’s “Savage (Remix)” — which is currently blowing up the Internet — will go toward COVID-19 relief efforts in their hometown of Houston. Texas up in this thang.
🎧 Listen: With sports on hiatus, tennis stars including Serena and Venus Williams, Maria Sharapova and Naomi Osaka will pick up their digital rackets for the “Stay at Home Slam,” a match on Mario Tennis Aces that will livestream through Facebook Gaming.
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