Mika Brzezinski Grills Biden on Tara Reade and Kavanaugh: ‘Are Women to Be Believed Unless it Pertains to You?’
MSNBC’s Mika Brzezinski confronted former Vice President Joe Biden over his past comments on the sexual assault allegations against Supreme Court Justice Brett Kavanaugh, in light of Biden’s own denial of a sexual assault claim lodged against him by Tara Reade.
In a tense interview on Morning Joe Friday, Brzezinski made reference to comments made by Biden two years ago relating to Kavanaugh.
“For a woman to come forward in the glaring lights of focus, nationally, you’ve got to start off with the presumption that at least the essence of what she’s talking about is real, whether or not she forgets facts, whether or not it’s been made worse or better over time,” Biden said in 2018.
“Is the essence of what she is saying real?” Brzezinski said of Tara Reade. “Why do you think she’s doing this?”
“I’m not going to question her motive, I’m not going to get into that at all,” Biden replied. “I don’t know why these she’s saying this. I don’t know why after 27 years all of a sudden this gets raised. I don’t understand that. But I’m not going to go in and question her motive. I’m not going to attack her. She has a right to say whatever she wants to say. But I have a right to say, look at the facts, check it out. Find out if what any of what she says is true.”
Brzezinski was not satisfied with Biden’s response, and followed up.
“As it pertained to Dr. [Christine Blasey] Ford, high-level Democrats said she should be believed, that they believed it happened,” Brzezinski said. “You said, if someone like Dr. Ford were to come out, the essence of what she is saying has to be believed, has to be real. Why? Why? Why is it real for Dr. Ford, but not for Tara Reade?”
Biden argued that his positions are not in conflict.
“I’m not suggesting she had no right to come forward,” Biden said. “Any woman, they should come forward, they should be heard. And then it should be investigated. And if there’s anything that is consistent with what’s being said, and she makes the case or the case is made, then it should be believed. But only the truth matters.”
As the MSNBC host pressed, the former vice president added, “I don’t know what else I can say to you.”
Brzezinski replied, “I’m going to try to ask many different ways.”
She proceeded to ask another follow-up along the same lines.
“Stacey Abrams said during the Kavanaugh hearings, ‘I believe women, I believe survivors of assault should be supported and the voices heard,'” Brzezinski said. “Kirsten Gillibrand tweeted, ‘Do we believe women? Do we give women an opportunity to tell their story? We must be a country that says yes every time.’ They now both support you. Nancy Pelosi falls into this category too, as well as many other leaders in the Democratic party. Are women to be believed unless it pertains to you?”
“Look, women are to be believed, given the benefit of the doubt,” Biden said. “If they come forward and say something that they said happened to them, they should start off with the presumption that they’re telling the truth. Then you have to look at the circumstances and the facts. And the facts in this case do not exist. They never happened.”
Watch above, via MSNBC.
