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Over a Quarter of Democrats Want New Nominee Amid Biden Denial of Tara Reade’s Accusations - Poll

© AP Photo / Evan VucciVice President Joe Biden, participates in a Democratic presidential primary debate at CNN Studios, Sunday, March 15, 2020, in Washington.
Vice President Joe Biden, participates in a Democratic presidential primary debate at CNN Studios, Sunday, March 15, 2020, in Washington.  - Sputnik International
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Tara Reade, who worked for former US Vce-President Joe Biden nearly 30 years ago, filed a criminal complaint with police against him in Washington DC in April, accusing the now presumptive Democratic presidential nominee of sexual assault.

According to a survey by global technology company Morning Consult, twenty-six percent of Democratic voters said the party should select a different candidate for the 2020 general election, after Joe Biden denied allegations that he sexually assaulted former employee Tara Reade.

Of the 1911 self-proclaimed registered voters who took the poll, 61 percent said they support Biden following the allegations.

The results showed that the party’s younger voters are less likely to back Biden following his denial. Forty percent of Democrats under the age of 45 said the party should pick a different nominee, compared to 15 percent of those ages 45 and older.

The poll was conducted amid growing attention on Biden due to the Tara Reade case.

According to Morning Consult, respondents were shown a 35-second video clip of Biden’s first interview on the subject, in which MSNBC’s Mika Brzezinski detailed Reade’s allegation and asked point-blank if he sexually assaulted her. 

According to the survey, 41 percent said Biden’s denial was credible, while 38 percent said it was not. 

What are the allegations?

Tara Reade, a formed Biden staffer of the then-Senator in 1993, filed a criminal complaint with the Washington DC police on 9 April, accusing the ex-Delaware senator of sexually assaulting her.

The allegations were initially described on 25 March in an interview with podcast host Katie Halper. Reade claimed Biden pushed her against a wall and penetrated her with his fingers. When she pulled away, she says, he said he thought she “liked” him.

Reade told Business Insider that she filed the report because she had been harassed in the past and “wanted to make it clear that I would be willing to go under oath or cooperate with any law enforcement regarding it, because it did happen. Even if it was 26 years ago".

Additional attention to the Reade's case was provoked by a CNN video clip from a 1993 Larry King show that emerged in late April. The video featured an anonymous call from a woman who Tara Reade argued was her mother. The conversation included the caller asking the host where to go with complaints regarding a "very prominent senator".

When asked if these allegations were true, Biden responded: “No. It is not true. I’m saying unequivocally: It never, never happened. It didn’t. It never happened.”

On Monday, the Secretary of the Senate rejected a request from Biden to search for and release any records of Reade’s complaint against him in 1993. 

According to Morning Consult, amid Supreme Court Justice Brett Kavanaugh’s nomination fight in 2018, 38 percent of voters — and 65 percent of Democrats — initially found Christine Blasey Ford’s allegations against him to be credible, a figure that increased followed her highly-publicized testimony.

Among the overall electorate, a separate Morning Consult poll tracking the 2020 presidential race, conducted 27 April - 3 May, found Biden’s standing unchanged in a head-to-head matchup against Trump, with 46 percent supporting him and 42 percent supporting the incumbent. 

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