Trump and allies respond to Biden sexual assault allegations

Twice in the past two days, President Trump has addressed sexual assault allegations made against his presumed 2020 Democratic rival, Joe Biden. Mr. Trump told reporters Thursday testimony from Tara Reade “could be false accusations.” He added, “I have been falsely charged numerous times. And there is such a thing.”

In a podcast interview with supporter Dan Bongino Friday, the president expressed sympathy for the former vice president, noting he too has been accused of sexual assault.

“I guess in a way, you could say I’m sticking up for him,” Trump told listeners, in his lengthiest comments yet about the accusation, which Biden addressed directly Friday for the first time, unequivocally denying Reade’s claim.

Reade said on a podcast in March that while working in Biden’s Senate office in 1993 as a staff assistant, he pushed her against a wall in an office building, put his hand up her skirt and penetrated her with his hand. The allegation went beyond her previous claims of harassment.

Biden flatly denied Reade’s accusation in an interview on MSNBC on Friday morning, calling upon the National Archives to release documents “relevant” to her allegation.

“It’s a terrible thing, it’s a very scary thing,” Mr. Trump said of the situation, Friday. “With that, Biden’s going to have to go out and fight his own battles.”

The president suggested more accusers could “come out” against the former vice president in the future. “He’ll probably have others come out. He might,” Trump said. At this point, Reade is the only woman who has ever alleged that Biden sexually assaulted her.

This is familiar territory for the president. More than a dozen women have accused him of sexual misconduct, including columnist E. Jean Carroll, who accused him of raping her in a New York City department store dressing room in the 1990s. The ongoing claims waged against Trump range from inappropriate comments to sexual assault.

Mr. Trump infamously bragged on tape about grabbing women by the genitals during a 2005 conversation caught on a hot microphone. A businessman and the host of “The Apprentice” NBC reality show series at the time, Mr. Trump said, “When you’re a star, they let you do it. You can do anything.” Mr. Trump has denied all allegations.

Pressed on the sexual misconduct accusations leveled against the president Friday, White House press secretary Kayleigh McEnany told reporters the American public has ruled in the president’s favor. “The president has swiftly denied all of these allegations that were raised four years ago. He has always told the truth on these issues,” she added. 

Mr. Trump called Tara Reade “far more convincing” than Dr. Christine Blasey Ford, who accused Supreme Court Justice Brett Kavanaugh of assault during his 2018 Senate confirmation proceedings. “There’s never been anybody treated in the history of Congress as badly as Brett Kavanaugh,” Mr. Trump added.

The president’s reelection campaign released a digital attack ad Friday highlighting the assault claims against Biden. The video shows a montage of clips of Biden and other Democratic leaders urging Americans to “believe women,” many of them filmed in the context of Kavanaugh’s Senate confirmation hearing.

The Trump campaign and Republican Party leaders have accused Democrats and the media of applying a double standard in their treatment of allegations surrounding Joe Biden.

“There will be a great temptation among Biden’s supporters to take his lackluster interview performance and declare ‘case closed’ and move on,” Trump campaign spokeswoman Erin Perrine said in part, in a statement to reporters. “We do not know what, if anything, was done to Tara Reade, but there cannot be one set of rules for Joe Biden and another set for everyone else.”