A new poll shows that a full 26% of Democrats want Joe Biden replaced following Tara Reade’s sexual assault allegation against him, a not-so-insignificant number given the tight matchup he will surely face against President Trump.
A Monday Morning Consult poll showed that 61% of Democrats believe that Biden appeared “very credible” or “somewhat credible” during his interview on MSNBC’s “Morning Joe” last week wherein he unequivocally denied Reade’s allegation against him. Though a majority, 61% leaves a sizable number of people who disbelieve Biden, many of whose votes he will need come November.
“26% say that the Democratic Party should move to replace Biden after watching the video of his remarks, while 61% — the same percentage who found his denial at least somewhat credible — say Biden should remain the nominee,” reported The Hill. “That number includes 28% of Democratic women. Younger voters were more likely to want Biden replaced as the presumptive nominee of the Democratic Party , with 40 percent of voters under 45 agreeing that he should be replaced by another candidate and just 15 percent of older voters saying the same.”
Among general voters, only 41% said they found Biden’s denial “somewhat credible” or “very credible” versus 38% who said it was “not that credible” or “not credible at all.”
In March, Tara Reade claimed that then-senator Joe Biden sexually assaulted her while she served as an aide in his Senate offices during the Clinton administration. She has since detailed her account in multiple interviews and filed a criminal complaint against the former vice president with the Washington, D.C., police department. A former neighbor of Reade and Reade’s brother have both publicly stated that Reade told them of the alleged assault in the 1990s. Recently surfaced evidence also suggests that Reade’s mother called into CNN’s Larry King in the 1990s to complain about a prominent senator with whom her daughter had “problems.”
On Saturday, The Associated Press reported that two new people, both of whom wished to remain anonymous, said that Reade spoke of Biden’s behavior prior to her going public.
Democratic National Committee Chair Tom Perez has dismissed the allegation against Biden, asserting that conservative media have made it a bigger deal than it actually is, going as far to compare it to the Hillary email scandal.
“There’s been so many investigations of the vice-president. The most comprehensive investigation of the vice-president was when he was vetted by Barack Obama in 2008. I’m very familiar with the vice-presidential vetting process. They look at everything about you,” Perez said on ABC News’ “This Week.”
“They looked at the entire history of Joe Biden, his entire career,” he continued. “And I’ll tell you, if Barack Obama had any indication that there was an issue, Barack Obama would not have had him as his vice-president. Barack Obama trusted Joe Biden. I trust Joe Biden. And those investigations have been done.”
“This is like the Hillary emails, because there was nothing there,” he added.
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