As RedState’s Sister Toldjah covered previously, Stacey Abrams appears to have flip-flopped where “Believe All Women” is concerned.
On Tuesday night, CNN’s Don Lemon queried to the aspiring vice president: Given the sexual misconduct allegations against Democratic presidential candidate Joe Biden, is she applying a different standard to her potential running mate than to Bret Kavanaugh accuser Christine Blasey Ford?
Brace for a shock: She’s not. At least, not according to her.
Let’s break it down.
As you surely know, in 1990, former Biden aide Tara Reade alleged that Joe sexually assaulted her. Those charges have arisen as we turn toward the last 8 months or so of the White House race, but Abrams — who, last November, wouldn’t accept that she’d lost the Georgia gubernatorial election (see more here and here) — has indicated she’d be pleased as punch to be Joe’s VP.
Don raised the topic:
“As someone who wants to be his vice president, I think it’s important that we speak about something that’s in the news now. CNN has now spoken on the record with her former neighbor who says Reade told her about the allegation within a few years of the alleged incident.”
Therefore, a question:
“Biden’s campaign says, ‘Untrue, never happened.’ Is this a credible allegation?”
Stacey explained that, while “women deserve to be heard,” she believes “allegations have to be investigated by credible sources.”
The November hopeful then referenced a New York Times investigation, which the Biden campaign claimed concluded the assault never happened.
It should be noted that, as covered by RedState’s Bonchie, the Times has refuted that claim:
A New York Times spokesperson says Biden campaign talking points “inaccurately” suggest that the Times investigation found that Tara Reade’s allegation “did not happen.” Response to this scoop from @rubycramer @RosieGray https://t.co/ZUD6f2WSEE pic.twitter.com/LNaHvH0ZxF
— Jonathan Easley (@JonEasley) April 29, 2020
Either way, Stacey’s Team Biden:
“I believe Joe Biden. I believe that he is a person who has demonstrated that his love of family, his love of our community, has been made perfectly clear through his work as a congressional leader and as an American leader. I know Joe Biden, and I think he’s telling the truth and that this did not happen.”
But not long ago (as observed by Sister Toldjah), Stacey appeared to take a different approach.
From a September 2018 tweet, amid the prospect of Bret Kavanaugh being confirmed to the Supreme Court:
“After the courageous and compelling testimony from Dr. Christine Blasey Ford yesterday, it is shameful that Kavanaugh’s nomination is being rushed forward. I believe women, and I believe survivors of violence always deserve to be supported and to have their voices heard.”
After the courageous and compelling testimony from Dr. Christine Blasey Ford yesterday, it is shameful that Kavanaugh's nomination is being rushed forward.
I believe women, and I believe survivors of violence always deserve to be supported and to have their voices heard. https://t.co/rtT1PQr4Zq
— Stacey Abrams (@staceyabrams) September 28, 2018
Don brought up the tweet, followed by this:
“Are you applying a different standard now?”
Her response:
“Not at all. I believed then, and I believe now, that women deserve to be heard because, too often, they are not. And Tara Reade deserved to have her story listened to and investigated. What was happening to Christine Blasey Ford was that there was no investigation. There was a rush to move the conversation forward, so that no investigation was conducted. And, as I said, I believe that…those allegations needed to be investigated, and I believe that The New York Times and subsequent reports support what the Biden campaign has said. And I believe Joe Biden.”
Back to Don:
“So you said you’ve heard her, you’ve heard enough, you don’t believe her. You believe Joe Biden.”
That’s a tricky one. Stacey answered thusly:
“No, what I’m saying is The New York Times investigation of her allegations…does not support the accusations against the vice president. I believe the Biden I know, and I think that he will make women proud, that he will make America proud.”
And as for whether Joe needs to address it “more directly and publicly”:
“I believe his campaign has been very clear…I support the approach. Because, again, we don’t want women to ever be afraid to come forward, but we also have to recognize that allegations should be investigated, and that those investigations need to be borne out.”
Let me see if I can make heads and tails of this:
Where Christine Blasey Ford was concerned, the accuser only needed to give her own testimony. In other words, Christine only needed to say that the person who was right was Christine. That sealed it, despite there being no evidence she and Kavanaugh had ever met. In spite of zero ways to prove anything — since the claim concerned a night 36 years prior — Christine was right because Christine said so. Therefore, in Stacey Abrams’s words, her testimony was “courageous.”
As for Tara Reade — who has at least as much proof as did Christine — Joe Biden says the person who is right is Joe Biden. Therefore, he wins. And also, a newspaper said so (but they actually didn’t).
Both Joe and Christine are registered Democrats, so I guess Stacey’s right — a different standard? “Not at all.”
-ALEX
See 3 more pieces from me:
Trump Shatters CNN Like the World’s Thinnest Glass: ‘I Told You…Don’t Talk to Me’
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