I wrote Monday about how Joe Biden’s female vice presidential hopefuls were utterly and thoroughly discrediting themselves and the “Believe All Women” philosophy they once subscribed to by displaying different standards for Tara Reade’s sexual assault allegations against Joe Biden than they did for Dr. Christine Blasey Ford’s allegations against then-SCOTUS nominee Brett Kavanaugh.
But while their hypocrisy has revealed much about these women that most of us already knew about way before now, Stacey Abrams has perhaps eclipsed them all with comments she made yesterday on Reade’s allegations and whether or not she believed Reade or Biden
Here’s what she said:
Stacey Abrams to @lannadelgrey on Tara Reade's allegations: “Nothing in the Times review or any other later reports suggests anything other than what I already know about Joe Biden: That he will make women proud as the next President of the United States.” https://t.co/XhJsMR8xqN pic.twitter.com/4OaY9LX6By
— Grace Panetta (@grace_panetta) April 28, 2020
She confirmed her statement in an interview she did with CNN’s Don Lemon Tuesday night, citing that biased New York Times report as a “thorough” investigation that did not find the allegations “credible”:
https://twitter.com/JoseCastilloJr/status/1255371837741182978
@staceyabrams falsely claimed that the @NYTimes reported that #TaraReade's allegation that @JoeBiden raped her was "not credible." @LLerer did you conclude Ms Reade's allegations were not credible as claimed by Stacey Abrams? https://t.co/6IXfqnW65G
— Tom Lopez (@CharlyTheBeagle) April 29, 2020
“I know Joe Biden and I think that he is telling the truth, and that this did not happen.” — Stacey Abrams to @donlemon tonight on Tara Reade allegations
— Chris Cillizza (@CillizzaCNN) April 29, 2020
Here was Stacey Abrams a couple of years ago, though, during the debate over Kavanuagh’s Supreme Court nomination:
This is appalling, and it is exactly why Dr. Ford—and so many other survivors of traumatic experiences—don't feel they can come forward to seek justice. Instead of blaming survivors of assault, we must do everything in our power to support them and hold perpetrators accountable. https://t.co/o1pLmC1QXw
— Stacey Abrams (@staceyabrams) September 22, 2018
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
A Supreme Court hearing is a job interview for one of the most critical roles in our democracy; if there is even a hint of impropriety—let alone the credible allegations bravely brought forward by Dr. Ford—we should pause and thoroughly investigate them, rather than rush forward.
— Stacey Abrams (@staceyabrams) September 28, 2018
What’s changed? Abrams desperately wants to be Biden’s VP, so much so that she is reportedly calling up other Democrats to get them to tout her “qualifications” to Biden.
To amplify a point I made earlier this week about all of this, the point of this exercise is not to convince women that if you support one woman’s allegations you should support them all. The point is to call out how believability standards should not be based on the political party affiliation of the person being accused.
In reality, the totality of the evidence should be the determining factor. And if Abrams was having a sincere change of heart here on automatically believing all women, it should be applauded. But it’s not sincere, and we all know it.
For Sen. Kamala Harris, Sen. Amy Klobuchar, Abrams, Gov. Gretchen Whitmer (D-MI) and all the rest, their convenient flip flop on believing on all women is a stark and troubling reminder that their “believing” primarily boils down to how and if it can advance their political ambitions.
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