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May 6, 2020

The Democrats’ double-standards continue regarding Joe Biden

By Andrea Widburg

On Tuesday, two prominent Democrats, one in politics and one in media, made it clear that they have no interest whatsoever in Tara Reade’s allegation that, in 1993, Joe Biden sexually assaulted her in the Senate building. This is in marked contrast to the Democrats’ behavior in 2016, when they claimed to be shocked that Trump remarked, accurately enough, that certain women will allow unlimited sexual liberties to rich and powerful men.

It’s also different from the feeding frenzy in 2017 with the #MeToo movement. That movement, which probably had Donald Trump as its intended target, managed to take out a slew of Democrat men, including Al Franken, Harvey Weinstein, and Matt Lauer.

And of course, the studied disinterest in Biden’s conduct is in even greater contrast to the vile, slanderous kangaroo court Democrats created around Brett Kavanaugh, a man with a deserved choir boy’s reputation. In 2018, Christine Blasey Ford, a passionate pro-abortion advocate, came forward with a remarkably changeable and vague story about a person who lived near her and grew up to be a potential conservative Supreme Court justice. Her unprovable accusations, which her own witnesses rejected, sparked a cottage industry of hashtags, especially #BelieveAllWomen.

Naive people might have assumed that this support for women who accused powerful men of sexual abuse would be the new standard. After all, every leftist, progressive, and Democrat preached and repeated it endlessly. It turns out, though, that the old saying is true: If leftists didn’t have double standards, they wouldn’t have any standards at all.

Speaker of the House Nancy Pelosi was one of Ford’s stalwart defenders. That’s not the case when it comes to Tara Reade, who has more detailed memories about being assaulted by a man she knew well and one, moreover, with a reputation for dirty doings in the bowels of the Senate building. Pelosi’s new position isn’t #BelieveAllWomen; it’s #BelieveJoeBiden. She’s done with the subject and doesn’t want to hear any more about it:

As a reminder, everything Nancy says or does is a lie. For example, in the middle of an economic crisis of unparalleled proportions, she’s refused to reconvene the House – but she was able to attend the ceremonial swearing-in of Democrat Representative Kweisi Mfume, who took over for the late Elijah Cummings. Pelosi made much of wearing a face mask, but she and everyone else willingly stripped the masks off for the photo ops:

Pelosi may pretend to believe Biden, but Martin Tolchin, who spent 40 years as a New York Times journalist before founding both The Hill and Politico, has a different approach. In response to the Times’s anguished editorial saying that, to keep the FBI away from Biden, the DNC should investigate Reade’s claims, Tolchin wrote a candid letter. In it, he asserts that Biden should not be investigated lest he is found guilty as charged, derailing the Democrats’ last, best hope to defeat Trump:

I totally disagree with this editorial. I don’t want an investigation. I want a coronation of Joe Biden. Would he make a great president? Unlikely. Would he make a good president? Good enough. Would he make a better president than the present occupant? Absolutely. I don’t want justice, whatever that may be. I want a win, the removal of Donald Trump from office, and Mr. Biden is our best chance.

Suppose an investigation reveals damaging information concerning his relationship with Tara Reade or something else, and Mr. Biden loses the nomination to Senator Bernie Sanders or someone else with a minimal chance of defeating Mr. Trump. Should we really risk the possibility?

Martin Tolchin,

Alexandra, Va.

The writer is a former member of The Times’s Washington bureau and a founder of Politico.

Tolchin is not alone. When Morning Consult polled Democrats who had watched  Biden deny Reade’s claims, 61% did not cry out, “Believe all women!” Instead, they said Biden should still run for president. The only ones who wanted him out were younger Bernie supporters who hoped to see Bernie run against Trump.

It’s fascinating, in an ugly way, to watch Democrats instantly abandon principles they embraced with such fervor only eighteen months ago. It’s to be hoped that America’s independent voters are not impressed with this unprincipled turnaround.

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