Listen to “Double Standards: Comparing Media Coverage of Biden & Kavanaugh Allegations” on Spreaker.
Five weeks ago, Tara Reade, a former Senate staffer for Joe Biden, accused the likely Democratic presidential nominee of a 1993 sexual assault. Despite the emergence of information that seems to provide some corroboration for the charge, no Biden surrogate had not been asked about the matter until this week. Biden still has not been asked.
This approach from the media looks a lot different than the feeding frenzy that took place in September 2018, when the media went rifling through Supreme Court nominee Brett Kavanaugh’s past after Christine Blasey Ford accused Kavanaugh of assaulting her in the early 1980’s.
Even with Ford unable to name the location or the year of her alleged assault and none of the supposed witnesses backing up her story, the media waged a relentless effort to find a pattern of such conduct by Kavanaugh – even giving credence to assertions that he was a gang rapist.
So what are we learning about the media and some politicians who seem to have very different standards for such accusations, depending upon the circumstances? And what is the responsible way for the media to approach any story like this?
We get answers from Judicial Crisis Network President Carrie Severino, co-author of the #1 bestseller “Justice on Trial: The Kavanaugh Confirmation and the Future of the Court.”
