Progressive podcast host Katie Halper slammed the mainstream media on Wednesday for its ongoing treatment of Joe Biden accuser Tara Reade.
In a lengthy Twitter thread, Halper, who first spoke with Reade on her podcast “The Katie Halper Show” on March 25, responded to a tweet made by New York Times media columnist Ben Smith, who pointed out how “remarkable” it was that CNN or MSNBC have not booked Reade for a televised interview.
“Thank you for pointing this out,” Halper said. “The legacy media’s lack of, delay in, and then ultimately biased reporting on Tara Reade, is precisely why she, a progressive Democrat, who, as she told me, is ‘diametrically opposed’ to Trump’s policies, is covered more by Fox and The Daily Caller [than] by CNN and MSNBC.”
“The huge irony is that it’s the New York Times and Washington Post, allegedly objective outlets, have been the one’s [sic] stealth editing their stories, openly taking editorial feedback from the Biden campaign as @nytimes executive editor Dean Baquet admitted to you, Ben, in your excellent q & a with him.”
Halper was referring to the controversial edit The Times boss defended that omitted a reference of Biden’s history of unwanted touching, something Dean Baquet admitted the Biden campaign had influence over during a candid interview with Smith.
“It’s obvious that editors are regurgitating Biden talking points. The only surprising thing is that they don’t have the awareness to not announce it publicly,” Halper said before calling out The Washington Post for changing a headline in a recent report from “Developments in allegations against Biden amplify efforts to question his behavior” to “Trump allies highlight new claims regarding allegations against Biden.”
“They made it seem like @ReadeAlexandra’s [Tara Reade’s] allegations are only being taken seriously by Trump supporters. I’ve been dismissed as a ‘die-hard’ ‘avid’ Bernie supporter who ‘encouraged’ Tara Reade to come forward and tell her story. I am, indeed an enthusiastic [Bernie] Sanders supporter who did NOT want to be the first person to interview Tara,” the podcast host explained. “I in no way encouraged Tara to tell her story, despite the attempts to portray me as actively seeking out a helpless and hapless victim exploited by a Sanders supporter for political gain. As @ryangrim has said, Tara was determined to tell her story & required no encouragement whatsoever.”
NEW YORK TIMES SAYS BIDEN CAMP’S TALKING POINTS ‘INACCURATELY’ DESCRIBE THEIR TARA READE REPORTING
“It’s precisely the failure of ‘objective’ media to cover her that made me, despite knowing that my support of Sanders and dislike of Biden would be used against both me and Tara. But people needed to know this story. If people had done their jobs instead of being the tools of the Biden campaign, this story would have been out when people had a number of Democrats to choose from.”
The progressive called out the “hypocrites” who championed #BelieveAllWomen and expressed their support for Dr. Christine Blasey Ford when she came forward against Supreme Court Justice Brett Kavanaugh during his 2018 confirmation who are now “smearing” Reade.
WOMEN’S GROUPS REPORTEDLY DRAFTED AN UNRELEASED LETTER URGING BIDEN TO ADDRESS TARA READE CLAIMS
“If @ABC, @nytimes, @CNN, @CBSNews, @MSNBC, @NBCNews didn’t act as the Biden campaign’s media arm, you guys would have actually covered the story, which had more corroboration that Blasey Ford’s, instead of ignoring it & then framing it as a smear campaign,” Halper said of the mainstream media.
There has been growing pressure for Biden to finally address Reade’s allegations. His campaign has vehemently denied the accusations, but Biden has not publicly addressed them.
On Tuesday, Reade called for the release of Biden’s Senate records that she believes could further corroborate her claims but are currently sealed at the University of Delaware.
“I’m calling for the release of the documents being held by the University of Delaware that contain Biden’s staff personnel records because I believe it will have my complaint form, as well as my separation letter and other documents,” Reade told Fox News on Tuesday. “Maybe if other staffers that have tried to file complaints would come to light — why are they under seal? And why won’t they be released to the public?”
The Washington Post has now joined the call, urging Biden on Wednesday to finally address the allegations and to “release relevant records.”
“Tara Reade deserves to be heard, and voters deserve to hear her. They deserve to hear from Joe Biden, too,” The Washington Post editorial board wrote on Wednesday. “There are, at the moment, no clear conclusions. There may never be. But that is no excuse for not searching. One place to start is the records covering Mr. Biden’s 36-year Senate career, donated to the University of Delaware in 2012 and slated for release to the public two years after Mr. Biden ‘retires from public life.'”
Major developments have also arisen in recent days since Reade came forward in March that further corroborate her 1993 claims.
A “Larry King Live” clip from 1993 was unearthed on Friday that purportedly featured Reade’s mother calling in to the show anonymously and alluding to her daughter’s “problems” with a “prominent senator.” Reade confirmed to Fox News it was her mother’s voice on the call.
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On Monday, two more people — a former neighbor and a former colleague of Reade’s — remembered conversations they had with her back in the 1990s. One remembered her account of the alleged assault, and another remembered her mentioning harassment but not assault.
