On Fox News’s Special Report Tuesday evening, MediaBuzz anchor Howard Kurtz hammered the blatant media double standard when it came to covering sexual assault allegations against presumptive Democratic nominee Joe Biden. While many outlets have still refused to cover the Biden controversy, Kurtz pointed out how eager major newspapers and networks were to jump on unsubstantiated claims against Supreme Court nominee Brett Kavanaugh in 2018.
“The Washington Post was the first report Christine Blasey Ford’s allegations of sexual misconduct...with her claim that Supreme Court nominee Brett Kavanaugh had sexually accosted her,” Kurtz noted at the top of the segment, adding, “The New York Times and the rest of the media quickly pounced.”
However, when it came to the recent accusation against Biden, the Fox News media analyst called out a very different reaction from the press: “But most news outlets remained silent when Tara Reade, a former Senate staffer for Joe Biden, alleged that he sexually assaulted her in 1993, which his campaign strongly denies.”
Kurtz highlighted a laughable explanation from New York Times editor Dean Baquet as to why the paper was so much slower to cover the claims against Biden versus those against Kavanaugh:
The Post interviewed Reade starting last year and did not run a story until Monday, once the Times pushed a lengthy account 19 days after she went public. Times editor Dean Baquet says if his paper was going to cover the story, “we needed to introduce it with some reporting and perspective.” He says Kavanaugh was treated differently because he “was already in a public forum in a large way.” While with Biden, on the verge of becoming his party’s nominee, they weren’t “in a heated race with the clock ticking.”
“The Times and the Post interviewed a friend who says Reade told of the alleged assault at the time, there was no corroboration with Ford, who said she told no one about Kavanaugh for decades,” Kurtz pointed out.
While acknowledging some of the credibility issues with Reade, Kurtz wrapped up the report by scolding the numerous media outlets, including all three broadcast networks, that have still refused to cover the story: “These are tough judgment calls, but even now, CNN, ABC, NBC and CBS have made no on-air mention of the Biden allegations. A far cry from how they handled the harassment allegations against candidate Donald Trump.”
The TV news blackout of the potential Biden scandal has largely remained intact, with only few exceptions. On Sunday, the Times finally got to the story, though hastened to argue in a now-deleted tweet: “We found no pattern of sexual misconduct by Biden, beyond hugs, kisses and touching that women previously said made them uncomfortable.”
That was followed on Monday by the Post finally deciding the news was worth writing about: “The Washington Post has been examining Tara Reade’s allegation over the past three weeks, since she said on a podcast that Biden had pinned her against a wall, reached under her skirt and pushed his fingers inside her.”
MSNBC also finally got around to mentioning the allegations this week, though a Monday report was conveniently cut short since they decided to air it just as the daily White House coronavirus briefing was about to start.
As of Wednesday morning, NBC, ABC, CBS, and CNN had all remained silent on Reade’s accusation against Biden.
Here is a full transcript of Kurtz’s April 14 report:
6:09 PM ET
BRET BAIER: The Obama endorsement comes as Biden fights off an allegation of sexual assault by one of his former aides, an allegation he denies. Tonight, how media coverage of that story compares with the handling of similar allegations against someone supported by the other side of the political spectrum. Here is Fox News media analyst and host of Fox News’s MediaBuzz, Howard Kurtz.
HOWARD KURTZ: The Washington Post was the first report Christine Blasey Ford’s allegations of sexual misconduct when she agreed to go on the record in 2018 with her claim that Supreme Court nominee Brett Kavanaugh had sexually accosted her at a high school party four decades earlier. The New York Times and the rest of the media quickly pounced. But most news outlets remained silent when Tara Reade, a former Senate staffer for Joe Biden, alleged that he sexually assaulted her in 1993, which his campaign strongly denies.
TARA READE [“RISING” HILLTV, MARCH 26]: He had me up against the wall and then his hands were down my skirt and up my skirt. And he pulled back and said, “Come on, man, I heard you liked me.”
KURTZ: The Post interviewed Reade starting last year and did not run a story until Monday, once the Times pushed a lengthy account 19 days after she went public. Times editor Dean Baquet says if his paper was going to cover the story, “we needed to introduce it with some reporting and perspective.” He says Kavanaugh was treated differently because he “was already in a public forum in a large way.” While with Biden, on the verge of becoming his party’s nominee, they weren’t “in a heated race with the clock ticking.”
The Times and the Post interviewed a friend who says Reade told of the alleged assault at the time, there was no corroboration with Ford, who said she told no one about Kavanaugh for decades. But former top Biden aides deny to both papers Reade’s account that she had complained to them. And Reade first told th Post only that Biden had touched her neck and shoulders, not mentioning the alleged assault. She now explains that as a lack of courage.
These are tough judgment calls, but even now, CNN, ABC, NBC and CBS have made no on-air mention of the Biden allegations. A far cry from how they handled the harassment allegations against candidate Donald Trump. Bret?
BAIER: Howie, thank you.
