Many prominent progressives have embraced the position of believing “all women” who bring forward accusations of sexual harassment or abuse, though the rhetoric often becomes muddied when the accused is also a left-winger.
As a recent example, one well-known liberal magazine included Tara Reade, who publicly shared her allegations against Democratic presidential nominee Joe Biden, in its list of “Top Ten Lunatics of 2020.”
“Remember her?”
Fox News reported this week about the stunning characterization found within the pages of Mother Jones this week.
In predictable fashion, President Donald Trump topped the list, followed by attorney Sidney Powell. Former New York City Mayor Rudy Giuliani rounded out the top three.
The biggest surprise came in the form of an entry by Kevin Drum.
“Tara Reade,” he wrote. “Remember her? She insisted that Joe Biden had sexually molested her in some way, but in the end it turned out to be just a fantasy made up by a habitual con artist.”
While Drum was right in recalling the accusation that Biden sexually assaulted Reade in the early 1990s she served as an aide to the then-senator, her allegations have not been definitively disproven. They have, however, been largely ignored by many in the mainstream media.
“Too little and too late”
Following the publication of Drum’s article, the magazine received significant backlash — including from Reade herself.
“The misogynistic roller coaster via [Mother Jones] what is painful as a survivor besides the name calling is the triggering of verbal abuse by [Drum] that comes up from the past by a toxic males [sic],” Reade tweeted. “Surviving abuse is hard and sharing it harder. But they will not take my dignity.”
The wave of criticism led the magazine to remove Reade from the list and include an editor’s note explaining the deletion.
“This post has been edited to remove mention of Tara Reade, whose claims have been cast into doubt by independent reporting, but are of a different nature than the others on this list,” the note explained.
For her part, Reade expressed her thoughts on the decision in a follow-up tweet: “Not enough and no apology [Mother Jones] the damage to my reputation and emotional distress still applies. Not to mention the chilling affect [sic] on survivors coming forward. Too little and too late.”
The post Liberal magazine issues retraction after attacking Biden accuser Tara Reade as 'lunatic' first appeared on Conservative Institute.
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