That old saying that a Republican is a Democrat who has been mugged by reality is ringing true to a lot of people on the left these days. In a new interview with Buzzfeed, Tara Reade describes what it has been like to have national Democrats she admired dismiss her and watch the media slow-walk stories about her allegations.
“It was really devastating when [Kirsten] Gillibrand and Stacey Abrams and Hillary Clinton, all on the same day, just basically implied my story wasn’t true and they believe Joe Biden. I can’t describe to you what that felt like,” Reade said on Thursday, describing herself as a “lifelong Democrat” and particularly a fan of Abrams, the former Georgia state minority leader who has been campaigning to serve on the ticket with Biden as his vice presidential nominee…
“I used to think that a Republican talking point was to call the mainstream media biased,” Reade said. “So I used to think, ‘Oh, that’s just a talking point for them. I don’t believe it.’ But now I’m living it, real time, and I see it — like, I see it for what it is. Because I am a Democrat, or I was. But now I’m not anything, really. I’m politically homeless.”…
The TV network that has asked her on most frequently, she said, has been Fox News, from which she said Thursday she’d received four or more invitations to come on air. Only in the last day or two have other TV networks expressed interest; Reade said early on Thursday that she had just received and was discussing an invitation from ABC News, had been contacted by MSNBC that morning, and CBS News had reached out to her the previous night.
After word went out that Biden would finally address the allegations on MSNBC tomorrow, Reade said the floodgates finally opened and now all of the networks want her on the air. Reade does not have a publicist fielding calls. So far she has handled it all herself. But she has been talking to a couple of other women who offered her support early on, including actress Rose McGowan:
She’s found support among some prominent accusers of powerful men whose stories came to light during the #MeToo wave. Actor Rose McGowan, who accused Harvey Weinstein of rape and reached a $100,000 settlement in 1997, reached out to Reade shortly after Reade went public with her full allegation and the two connected for a phone call of two or three hours, McGowan said. They have kept in touch since.
“She’s a very scared, damaged, traumatized woman, but I’ve seen her as time has gone just get stronger and stronger and it’s really great to see,” McGowan said in an interview on Wednesday. “She’s challenging, you know, one of the most powerful men on earth. And when you mess with power, they mess back.”
McGowan said that Reade was being “belittled and dragged and positioned as just this kind of kooky — which of course they did to me — this kooky woman out there, you know, because she doesn’t look like the more J.Crew friendly type of blonde they prefer.”
The fact that Reade has been talking with McGowan is interesting because just yesterday, McGowan published a tweet that included a photo of herself crying along with a statement about her disappointment in her party. It opened, “I used to be a proud Democrat.” She went on to describe arguing with Republicans at her brother’s Air Force academy graduation. “And I was always told it was the Democratic Party that were the good guys, that our papers were @nyt & @washingtonpost…But now I know too much,” she wrote. She added, “Republicans have always been painted as the bad guys, and I’ve always seen them more as a cult, but now I realize so are the Democrats and the media. Macro and micro.”
I’m really sad, and I’m really tired. I normally share thoughts, but tonight it’s emotion. pic.twitter.com/mhtaoW6dTd
— Rose McGowan (@rosemcgowan) April 29, 2020
What percentage of Democrats believe the same things that Rose and Tara have always believed about Republicans and media bias? I suspect it’s a hefty percentage. I wonder if this month has been a learning experience not just for these two women but for lots of other women who are watching this play out and also thinking ‘What happened to #BelieveWomen?’ What happened to all the things we were told were terribly important to our future just 18 months ago?
I don’t want to close the door in those people’s faces. I’d rather invite them in and hope some of them stick around. Because what is happening right now really is a teachable moment on a national scale. Those of us who’ve been watching Democrats play this same cynical game since Bill Clinton was in office really aren’t the bad guys.
