Rantz: Patty Murray, Maria Cantwell silent as Tara Reade accuses Joe Biden of assault

Washington Senators Patty Murray and Maria Cantwell want you to believe all women, except when it comes to Tara Reade accusing Joe Biden of sexual assault. Then, Murray and Cantwell no longer side with survivors.

The Daily Caller News Foundation reached out to all Senate Democrats — including Murray and Cantwell — to see if they would even “consider the allegations” against Biden. Not a single office responded after 24 hours. The same happened when far-Left publication Jacobin reached out to Murray’s office.

This comes after Murray and Cantwell immediately and unequivocally sided with Dr. Christine Blasey Ford’s allegations against Brett Kavanaugh.

Tara Reade mostly ignored

While working for then-Senator Biden as an aide in 1993, Reade alleges Biden “had me up against the wall; he used his knee to spread open my legs,” and “put his fingers inside me.” When Reade tried to pull away, she alleges Biden told her, “Come on man. I heard — I thought you liked me.” She also claims he kissed her.

Adding credibility to her allegations, Reade said she told her mother, a close friend, and brother of what happened. The friend and brother confirmed they recall Reade making the allegations, but her mother passed away in 2016. But The Intercept found old footage of Reade’s mom calling into Larry King Live to vaguely discuss the allegations.

Reade’s allegations have been mostly ignored by mainstream media outlets until the last week. Now, it’s hard to ignore them.

Murray stopped believing survivors

When it came to allegations against Kavanaugh, Murray was a vocal supporter of Blasey Ford and other sexual assault survivors. Murray repeatedly tweeted the hashtag #BelieveSurvivors.

To all who organized against Judge Kavanaugh, thank you for your hard work. To all survivors of sexual assault, I see you and I believe you. #BelieveSurvivors

— Senator Patty Murray (@MurrayCampaign) October 6, 2018

In 1991, I watched as the Senate failed Anita Hill.
The following year, I ran for Senate and won. I am living proof that if the Senate ignores and dismisses women’s voices, women will rise up. #BelieveSurvivors

— Senator Patty Murray (@MurrayCampaign) September 28, 2018

Your voice, your stories, and your calls DO make a difference. Make sure your senators know you expect them to #BelieveSurvivors and #StopKavanaugh https://t.co/WDXgM9howz

— Senator Patty Murray (@MurrayCampaign) October 4, 2018

In the end, Murray said she was inspired by women who spoke out against their accusers. Apparently, she’s only inspired when the accused is a Republican. There will be no “Tara Reade” hashtag from Murray.

Since Judge Kavanaugh’s confirmation, I have heard from so many women who want to keep working to prevent anything like this from happening again. It’s inspiring. Keep on fighting.

— Senator Patty Murray (@MurrayCampaign) October 11, 2018

Cantwell can’t be bothered with Reade

Like Murray, the more low-key Senator Cantwell rallied behind Blasey Ford and called for an investigation into the allegations against Kavanaugh.

We must treat Dr. Ford’s allegation against Judge Kavanaugh seriously. We need a nonpartisan investigation into the facts, which could help the Judiciary Committee understand exactly what transpired. We should not rush this process and hurry to a vote. We need to get this right.

— Sen. Maria Cantwell (@SenatorCantwell) September 23, 2018

At a speech to Planned Parenthood in Seattle, she proudly proclaimed “women’s voices need to be heard… America needs to hear the voices of women.”

Cantwell panned the Senate’s treatment of Blasey Ford, demanding a non-partisan investigation after a Republican Senator indicated he didn’t believe her. Indeed, Cantwell argued “making sure the victims of sexual assault or those who are potentially involved in sexual assault are heard is very important…” Apparently that belief doesn’t extend to Reade.

Outside of the Kavanaugh allegations, Cantwell rightly said we can’t ignore any sexual assaults. Yet, so far, she’s ignored the one made against Biden. It’s almost like she’s hoping it’ll be swept under the rug.

1 in every 5 women will experience sexual assault in their lifetime, and the number is even higher in Indian Country. Many Native American women face barriers that can prevent the perpetrators from being convicted. We can no longer sweep these statistics under the rug.

— Sen. Maria Cantwell (@SenatorCantwell) December 13, 2018

The U.S. Senate, as an institution, must come to terms with the fact that sexual assault is a cultural problem in the United States of America. We must do our part. We must help. We must take the time to find the truth. pic.twitter.com/lBTm0IyBN3

— Sen. Maria Cantwell (@SenatorCantwell) September 26, 2018

Why Murray and Cantwell are silent

Murray and Cantwell are silent on the Biden allegations for the exact same reason they supported allegations against Kavanaugh. It’s not that they don’t care about or believe either women; it’s that they could only politically exploit one of the allegations.

The Senators went after Kavanaugh because they didn’t want him serving on the Supreme Court. They’re Democrats. They were understandably concerned with his conservative ideology. They think that ideology is wrong for America. I don’t fault people of different political beliefs being concerned with the politics of Supreme Court justices.

But they were more concerned with stopping Kavanaugh — and President Donald Trump — than they were supporting a potential victim of sexual assault. They proudly exploited the issue, and women in general, to stop a conservative.

In Tara Reade’s case, they won’t jump on Biden because he’s the presumptive nominee to take on Trump. They view Trump as a threat to the country and to Democratic policy-making. Reade’s allegations would normally qualify as a story to be told and believed, but doing so hurts the candidate they’re stuck with to beat the man they hate so dearly. They don’t care about pushing a potential survivor aside; sweeping her story aside is a small price to pay if it means they can help boot Trump from office.

Completely heartless?

None of this is to say that Murray or Cantwell are heartless. They care about survivors. They’re just not especially principled. Their support only extends to those who won’t damage their own side.

Throwing Senator Al Franken under the bus was one thing. That didn’t matter to them because they knew they’d get a Democratic replacement and it virtually signaled to the country they’ll take on Democratic men accused of impropriety — so long as they don’t give any power to Republicans. They won’t throw a Democrat under the bus when it could hand Trump the re-election.

And, to be clear, some Republicans are acting inconsistently, too. Some are attacking Biden, using Reade as a prop to go after a political enemy. If you weren’t going after Kavanaugh as hard as you’re going after Biden, don’t pretend you’re in this to trust survivors.

Here’s a solution to the Tara Reade allegations

I have a solution to all of this: Be consistent.

If you were out to get Kavanaugh’s male privilege, then you should do the same against Biden. Be less of a coward, and stand with women like you claim to. Murray and Cantwell, and other Democrats, think ignoring this will let it go away. That’s not going to happen.

And if you were a stalwart supporter of Kavanaugh, don’t jump on Reade’s story, exploiting it to smear Biden. At least try to be consistent or your political opponents will endlessly weaponize assault allegations. I thought you were about the rule of law?

Here’s what I’ll do: Cover the story reasonably without smearing Biden as a rapist. He is entitled to the same due process as Kavanaugh as this allegation is actively investigated. It’s perfectly reasonable to respect the allegation while also wondering about the timing. But I’m going to presume innocence until proven guilty — like I did with Kavanaugh. But I definitely will continue to call out the Democratic and media hypocrisy on this.

Senator Patty Murray wants you to #BelieveSurvivors — unless you accuse Joe Biden. #TaraReade https://t.co/fqzvz1X86z

— (((Jason Rantz))) on KTTH Radio (@jasonrantz) April 26, 2020

Update

According to a piece in the Daily Caller, three potential VP picks did the Sunday news show rounds and none were asked about the Tara Reade allegations. Democratic Michigan Gov. Gretchen Whitmer and Democratic Minnesota Sen. Amy Klobuchar, plus gubernatorial sore loser Stacey Abrams managed to inexplicably avoid any questions about the assault allegation against the candidate they’re rumored to be considered to back as VP.

Listen to the Jason Rantz Show weekday afternoons from 3-6 p.m. on KTTH 770 AM (or HD Radio 97.3 FM HD-Channel 3). Subscribe to the podcast here. Follow @JasonRantz on Twitter and Instagram or like me on Facebook.

Follow @https://twitter.com/jasonrantz