美国国家公共电台 NPR Joe Biden Responds For First Time To Tara Reade Accusations

 

RACHEL MARTIN, HOST:

This morning, the presumptive Democratic nominee¹ Joe Biden responded directly to an accusation² of sexual assault made by Tara Reade. She worked as a junior staffer in Biden's Senate office in 1993, when she says the assault occurred. Biden spoke³ with MSNBC.

(SOUNDBITE OF TV SHOW, "MORNING JOE")

JOE BIDEN: I'm saying unequivocally, it never, never happened.

MARTIN: We should mention we're about to talk about an allegation that will be disturbing to a lot of listeners. NPR's Asma Khalid has been reporting on the story and joins us now. Asma, let's begin with what Tara Reade has accused Joe Biden of. You have talked with her multiple times. What does she say?

ASMA KHALID, BYLINE⁴: Well, she says at some point in the spring of 1993, she delivered a duffel bag to Biden in a hallway on Capitol Hill. This is what Reade told me happened when she then met up with Biden.

TARA READE: He put me up against the wall, and his hands went underneath⁵ my clothing. And he was touching⁶ me in my private areas and without my consent.

KHALID: Reade said Biden penetrated⁷ her vagina with his fingers. She could not recall the exact date or location of the incident. And Rachel, she told me that she filed a complaint with a Senate office, not about the alleged⁸ assault but about harassment⁹. She could not recall, though, where she filed that complaint, and she doesn't have a copy of it.

MARTIN: But there could potentially be a record of her complaint somewhere. I mean, what did Joe Biden say about that this morning?

KHALID: Well, there have been a lot of questions about the private records from Joe Biden's office because they're under seal at the University of Delaware until he leaves public life. That's a deadline that's been extended because he decided¹⁰ to run for president. What Biden has said, though, about those records is that they do not contain personnel files. He said any record of a Senate complaint like what Reade is describing would only exist at the National Archives. So he's called on the secretary of Senate to identify any record and release it to the press if such a record exists. He was asked in this morning's interview if he's prepared to release the information not just about Reade's complaint but about any complaint if, you know, any others exist. And he said he's prepared to do that because no complaints ever occurred.

MARTIN: So this has proven to be rather uncomfortable for a number of Democrats¹¹ who have maintained, as part of the #MeToo movement, that - this idea that all women should be believed in these cases. But now that the presumptive nominee for their party is facing an allegation, this idea has become less absolute.

KHALID: That's right. You know, and Republicans have been accusing Democrats of hypocrisy¹², specifically pointing to the fact that they believed Christine Blasey Ford¹³'s allegation against Supreme¹⁴ Court Justice Brett Kavanaugh. So why are they not believing, they say, Tara Reade. Biden was asked about this on "Morning Joe" today by Mika Brzezinski.

(SOUNDBITE OF TV SHOW, "MORNING JOE")

MIKA BRZEZINSKI: You said if someone like Dr. Ford were to come out, the essence of what she is saying has to be believed, has to be real. Why...

BIDEN: I know what I said. It has to be...

BRZEZINSKI: Why is it real for Dr. Ford but not for Tara Reade?

BIDEN: There - because the facts are - look, I'm not suggesting she had no right to come forward. And I never - and I'm not saying - any woman, they should come forward. They should be heard, and then it should be investigated.

KHALID: And Biden reiterated¹⁵ that this claim is not true and that truth matters and that he's worked his entire life, he says, to change the laws and culture to help victims of sexual assault.

MARTIN: I can't imagine, in this political climate, that this is the end of it. What is the next step in all this?

KHALID: Yeah, definitely not. I mean, Tara Reade has not done any TV interviews so far, but she's expected to do one in the coming days. You know, Republicans have been amplifying¹⁶ this story. They're pressuring Democrats to respond. But look, Rachel - I mean, this is a tough moral battle for Republicans to wage without themselves appearing hypocritical because while they point at Biden for this allegation, more than a dozen women have publicly accused Trump¹⁷ of various incidents of sexual assault, all of which he denies.

You know, as for Democrats, they've been standing¹⁸ by Biden, coming out to publicly endorse¹⁹ him even after this allegation was reported. But some women's rights activists²⁰ had been calling on Biden to respond directly to the allegation. Now that he has, we'll have to see if they're satisfied with how he's addressed it.

MARTIN: Thank you. NPR's Asma Khalid.

1 nominee   

n.被提名者；被任命者；被推荐者

参考例句：

• His nominee for vice president was elected only after a second ballot.他提名的副总统在两轮投票后才当选。
• Mr.Francisco is standing as the official nominee for the post of District Secretary.弗朗西斯科先生是行政书记职位的正式提名人。

2 accusation   

n.控告，指责，谴责

参考例句：

• I was furious at his making such an accusation.我对他的这种责备非常气愤。
• She knew that no one would believe her accusation.她知道没人会相信她的指控。

3 spoke   

n.（车轮的）辐条；轮辐；破坏某人的计划；阻挠某人的行动 v.讲，谈（speak的过去式）；说；演说；从某种观点来说

参考例句：

• They sourced the spoke nuts from our company.他们的轮辐螺帽是从我们公司获得的。
• The spokes of a wheel are the bars that connect the outer ring to the centre.辐条是轮子上连接外圈与中心的条棒。

4 byline   

n.署名；v.署名

参考例句：

• His byline was absent as well.他的署名也不见了。
• We wish to thank the author of this article which carries no byline.我们要感谢这篇文章的那位没有署名的作者。

5 underneath   

adj.在...下面，在...底下；adv.在下面

参考例句：

• Working underneath the car is always a messy job.在汽车底下工作是件脏活。
• She wore a coat with a dress underneath.她穿着一件大衣，里面套着一条连衣裙。

6 touching   

adj.动人的，使人感伤的

参考例句：

• It was a touching sight.这是一幅动人的景象。
• His letter was touching.他的信很感人。

7 penetrated   

adj. 击穿的，鞭辟入里的 动词penetrate的过去式和过去分词形式

参考例句：

• The knife had penetrated his chest. 刀子刺入了他的胸膛。
• They penetrated into territory where no man had ever gone before. 他们已进入先前没人去过的地区。

8 alleged   

a.被指控的，嫌疑的

参考例句：

• It was alleged that he had taken bribes while in office. 他被指称在任时收受贿赂。
• alleged irregularities in the election campaign 被指称竞选运动中的不正当行为

9 harassment   

n.骚扰，扰乱，烦恼，烦乱

参考例句：

• She often got telephone harassment at night these days.这些天她经常在夜晚受到电话骚扰。
• The company prohibits any form of harassment.公司禁止任何形式的骚扰行为。

10 decided   

adj.决定了的，坚决的；明显的，明确的

参考例句：

• This gave them a decided advantage over their opponents.这使他们比对手具有明显的优势。
• There is a decided difference between British and Chinese way of greeting.英国人和中国人打招呼的方式有很明显的区别。

11 democrats   

n.民主主义者，民主人士( democrat的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• The Democrats held a pep rally on Capitol Hill yesterday. 民主党昨天在国会山召开了竞选誓师大会。
• The democrats organize a filibuster in the senate. 民主党党员组织了阻挠议事。 来自《简明英汉词典》

12 hypocrisy   

n.伪善，虚伪

参考例句：

• He railed against hypocrisy and greed.他痛斥伪善和贪婪的行为。
• He accused newspapers of hypocrisy in their treatment of the story.他指责了报纸在报道该新闻时的虚伪。

13 Ford   

n.浅滩，水浅可涉处；v.涉水，涉过

参考例句：

• They were guarding the bridge,so we forded the river.他们驻守在那座桥上，所以我们只能涉水过河。
• If you decide to ford a stream,be extremely careful.如果已决定要涉过小溪，必须极度小心。

14 supreme   

adj.极度的，最重要的；至高的，最高的

参考例句：

• It was the supreme moment in his life.那是他一生中最重要的时刻。
• He handed up the indictment to the supreme court.他把起诉书送交最高法院。

15 reiterated   

反复地说，重申( reiterate的过去式和过去分词 )

参考例句：

• "Well, I want to know about it,'she reiterated. “嗯，我一定要知道你的休假日期，"她重复说。 来自英汉文学 - 嘉莉妹妹
• Some twenty-two years later President Polk reiterated and elaborated upon these principles. 大约二十二年之后，波尔克总统重申这些原则并且刻意阐释一番。

16 amplifying   

放大，扩大( amplify的现在分词 )； 增强； 详述

参考例句：

• Often they use borrowed funds, amplifying their gains and losses. 他们通常会用借贷的资金交易，从而放大收益或损失。
• An amplifying type (or analog) device, as opposed to digital device. 放大器类（或模拟）器件，相对于数字器件而言的。

17 trump   

n.王牌，法宝；v.打出王牌，吹喇叭

参考例句：

• He was never able to trump up the courage to have a showdown.他始终鼓不起勇气摊牌。
• The coach saved his star player for a trump card.教练保留他的明星选手，作为他的王牌。

18 standing   

n.持续，地位；adj.永久的，不动的，直立的，不流动的

参考例句：

• After the earthquake only a few houses were left standing.地震过后只有几幢房屋还立着。
• They're standing out against any change in the law.他们坚决反对对法律做任何修改。

19 endorse   

vt.(支票、汇票等)背书，背署；批注；同意

参考例句：

• No one is foolish enough to endorse it.没有哪个人会傻得赞成它。
• I fully endorse your opinions on this subject.我完全拥护你对此课题的主张。

20 activists   

n.（政治活动的）积极分子，活动家( activist的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• His research work was attacked by animal rights activists . 他的研究受到了动物权益维护者的抨击。
• Party activists with lower middle class pedigrees are numerous. 党的激进分子中有很多出身于中产阶级下层。 来自《简明英汉词典》