MSNBC, Biden and the ‘home team’ interview

There was some sneering going down at CNN on Friday, following the much-anticipated interview over at MSNBC’s “Morning Joe” with presidential candidate Joe Biden regarding Tara Reade’s allegations. Pressed over and over again by co-host Mika Brzezinski, Biden flatly denied ever having sexually assaulted the former aide on his Senate staff.

“The interview was very direct, but it was a home-team interview,” said CNN chief political correspondent Dana Bash in a round of post-interview analysis. “Hopefully with others will have a chance to also ask questions.” Actually, others, including CNN, have already had a chance to also ask questions. Various TV networks, as this blog mentioned on Thursday, have conducted interviews with Biden since Reade’s sexual assault allegations surfaced on March 25. Before Friday morning, Biden hadn’t been asked about the claims.

In her session with Biden, Brzezinski was measured, civil and insistent. After Biden issued his unequivocal denial of the allegation itself, she pressed him on the glaring vulnerability of top Democrats when it comes to sexual assault allegations: their over-the-top, believe-women statements during the confirmation fight over then-federal Judge Brett M. Kavanaugh. This was Biden’s own contribution to this genre: “For a woman to come forward in the glaring lights of focus, nationally, you’ve got to start off with the presumption that at least the essence of what she’s talking about is real, whether or not she forgets facts, whether or not it’s been made worse or better over time.”