Former vice president Joe Biden, despite being interviewed by several major media outlets, has yet to publicly address the allegations of a former Senate staffer, Tara Reade, who claims he sexually assaulted her in 1993. That doesn't mean Biden's campaign hasn't been working hard to manage the crisis like a well-oiled public relations firm.
For example, the campaign has been circulating talking points to allies and surrogates suggesting a New York Times investigation into Reade's accusation "concluded" that the alleged assault "did not occur." The fact that the Times concluded no such thing hasn't stopped Biden supporters such as Stacey Abrams—a potential VP nominee—from regurgitating the false assertion on national television.
Abrams, who has demonstrated a willingness to say and do anything to be Biden's running mate, is one of many prominent Democrats whose position on sexual assault allegations has evolved since Dr. Christine Blasey Ford accused then-Supreme Court nominee Brett Kavanaugh of sexual assault in 2018. The same is true of the so-called women's organizations that led the charge in opposing Kavanaugh's nomination but are curiously silent on the allegation against Biden.
Perhaps coincidentally, many of these organizations, such as NARAL, Emily's List, Planned Parenthood, and Time's Up, have ties to SKDKnickerbocker, where former Obama aide Anita Dunn works as managing director. Dunn is currently a senior adviser to the Biden campaign and is plenty experienced when it comes to managing crises for accused sex criminals.
Dunn, who joined the Biden campaign in April 2019, was among the team of legal and communications experts who provided "damage control advice" to disgraced Hollywood mogul Harvey Weinstein as he confronted numerous accusations of criminal sexual behavior. Weinstein was convicted of rape in February and sentenced to 23 years in prison.
Dunn isn't the only Biden adviser who has experience flacking on behalf of assorted creeps and perverts. Campaign manager Jen O'Malley Dillon, for example, previously served as the deputy campaign manager for John Edwards's 2008 presidential campaign. Edwards cheated on his cancer-stricken wife, fathered a child with a former campaign staffer, and pressured another campaign staffer to falsely claim paternity.
Biden communications director Kate Bedingfield also worked on the Edwards campaign as a spokesperson and went on to serve as vice president of communications for the Motion Picture Association of America. That organization's top lobbyist, former senator Chris Dodd (D., Conn.), described himself as a longtime "friend" of Weinstein's and played a role in the problematic sexual escapades of the late senator Ted Kennedy (D., Mass.). Dodd was recently announced as a co-chair of Biden's vice presidential selection committee.
Biden's press secretary, TJ Ducklo, was the senior communications director for NBC News between 2018 and 2019, when the network was dealing with the fallout from the numerous sexual assault allegations against disgraced host Matt Lauer. Ronan Farrow has accused senior NBC News executives of not only tolerating Lauer's inappropriate behavior, but also of derailing his efforts to expose Weinstein's history of misconduct.
Ducklo also did public relations work for The Circus, the Showtime political reality series starring Mark Halperin, who was ousted from public life amid allegations of inappropriate sexual behavior.
Talk about a deep bench. The senior members of Biden's campaign staff have advised some of the most notorious perverts the world has ever known. That experience should come in handy, but it's not as if their job is hard. The mere fact that Biden is a Democrat who has a chance of becoming president makes him the ideal client in terms of fending off allegations of sexual assault, which are inherently more credible when made against Republicans.
The media have not shown much interest in getting Biden to even acknowledge the allegations against him. It's been five weeks since Tara Reade accused the former VP of sexually assaulting her. In that time, Biden has been asked 142 questions over 19 interviews, but not a single one about Reade's claim.