The sexual assault allegation against presumed Democratic Party presidential nominee Joe Biden is serious enough that the party should start considering another candidate for the November election, a New York Times opinion writer argues.
Elizabeth Bruenig wrote that the allegation brought forward by Tara Reade, a former Biden staffer when he was a senator from Delaware, warrants an investigation. Reade claimed Biden assaulted her in 1993; Biden has said she's lying.
"I have my own impressions regarding Ms. Reade's allegations, but no one — save Ms. Reade and Mr. Biden — knows with certainty whether her claims are true," Bruenig wrote. "What I can assert with firm conviction is that Democrats ought to start considering a backup plan for 2020."
Bruenig admitted that Reade's story has holes in it because of inconsistencies.
"Ms. Reade's account is not nearly as incredible as some have argued," she wrote.
Still, because of the #MeToo movement that liberals championed and because of their insistence that all women should be believed, Democrats need to start assembling a plan for November that does not include Biden, Bruenig wrote.
"It is still possible — if not likely — that all of this will simply fade away, and that Mr. Biden will continue his campaign without ever submitting to a full accounting, precisely the sort of thing #MeToo was meant to prevent," she wrote.
"But it is also possible that this won't just go away, and that it will demoralize voters and place Mr. Biden at a disadvantage against Mr. Trump in the general election, despite the fact that Mr. Trump has a damning list of accusers alleging sexual offenses.
"To preserve the strides made on behalf of victims of sexual assault in the era of #MeToo, and to maximize their chances in November, Democrats need to begin formulating an alternative strategy for 2020 — one that does not include Mr. Biden."
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