You can say the sex claim ain’t so, Joe, but it won’t work. Biden has lost his moral compass in his desperate bid to defeat Trump

The Democratic White House hopeful – plus his party and its media supporters – dismisses the allegations against him as utterly unfounded, in a nauseating display of hypocrisy. But the scandal – and his age – disqualifies him.

Following in the footsteps of John F Kennedy, Joe Biden could become only the second-ever Catholic to be elected US president. But never mind overcoming both Trump and an historic sex assault allegation – would he even have a prayer to last a full term as the oldest-ever incumbent, as someone well into his 80s?

Tara Reade paints a very graphic picture of her claim of being sexually assaulted by Joe Biden. She alleges the presidential candidate forcibly pinned her up against the wall and pushed his fingers inside her when she worked for him in 1993. You can listen to her podcast interview here to help make up your own mind about whether or not you believe her.

But what’s just as disturbing as the actual allegation itself is how the Democrats are now handling the scandal. After weeks of silence, the former two-time vice-president to Barack Obama only first publicly denied the sordid accusation last Friday. I’m puzzled why so many Biden supporters – paradoxically including some prominent #MeToo advocates – had already dismissed it all even before his public statement.

They argue it is an absurd claim because it doesn’t chime with their impression of the affable Joe they know and love. His supporters will tell you Biden might be a loquacious character – who can “blurt out pretty much anything,” according to the New York Times – but he certainly wouldn’t hurt a fly… blah… blah… blah.

But would it be really out of character, considering Biden himself apparently confessed to being filled with “rage” following the death of his beloved wife Neilia and their one-year-old child Naomi in a car accident in 1972? It’s understandable that Biden was devastated by the tragic loss – but equally, isn’t it deeply troubling how the teetotaller, who turned to booze to ease his pain, had“felt such rage he stalked seedy streets looking for trouble?”

He’s quoted as saying, “I liked to [walk around seedy neighborhoods] at night when I thought there was a better chance of finding a fight... I had not known I was capable of such rage.”

It echoes similar controversial comments made by Liam Neeson – a man who also lost his wife in tragic circumstances – when he spoke about the subject of revenge during a press junket to promote a movie in 2019. The Irish actor recounted how he once “wanted to kill a black man” in retaliation after his female friend had been raped.

Neeson also spoke about feeling “shame” and “horror” at having such feelings of wanting to “unleash physical violence” on an innocent bystander and said he “sought help.” But these caveats didn’t stop him from being pilloried by social media.

Biden’s comments make me wonder if he ever went to anger management therapy – or did his rage fester? It’s not too much of a stretch of the imagination to think that someone who once roamed dangerous neighbourhoods looking for a fight could’ve also committed sexual assault... or is it?

As an idealist myself, it’s soul destroying to see liberals and like-minded media outlets – who lambasted Trump, and others on the right, over sexual misconduct allegations – now turning a blind eye to Tara Reade’s account, true or false. Let’s not kid ourselves here; there’s quite a few prominent Democrats only vocally supporting their hero in the hope of becoming his vice-presidential candidate.

I was taken aback to learn the Democrat party’s chairman Tom Perez has “dismissed calls” for its national committee to launch an investigation into the allegation. It’s clear that the Democrats – in their desperate effort to win this race at all costs – have sadly lost their moral compass. Yes, many would like to see Trump ousted – but at what cost?

There are double standards here with how the Democrats – including Biden, who was right out of the gate – vocally supported Christine Blasey Ford, who accused judge Brett Kavanaugh of historical sexual assault when both were students in the 1980s. At the time he was being nominated for the Supreme Court in 2018, but the allegation was “never corroborated.” Certainly, it doesn’t look good now that others have since made similar allegations against the Associate Justice of the Supreme Court, but it was a classic case of she said/he said, as with Biden – so why won’t the Democrats now accept that what’s good for the goose is good for the gander?

The only reason Biden is getting a pass here is because he’s the liberals’ great white hope to slay the ogre in the White House. But, as they say, a week is a long time in politics – and with six months to go until the election, I wouldn’t be surprised if more women start to crawl out of the woodwork to talk about Biden’s “creepy behaviour”, considering there’s a pattern here of him touching women inappropriately.

By burying their heads in the sand, the Democrats are not only selling out – and in the process embracing some of the dirty tricks tactics you’d expect from the alt-right – but they are also doing a great disservice to the #MeToo movement and women in general. If nothing else, it will make sexual assault victims even more reluctant to come forward in the future.

Several political analysts argue the sexual abuse claim won’t hurt Biden in the long run because it didn’t damage Trump’s 2016 election campaign. Besides, the general consensus is this White House race is going to be all about “the [post-Covid-19] economy, stupid.” But with Biden needing the strong support of suburban women come November, he’s by no means a shoe-in. Trump – despite being behind in the polls (as he was in 2016) – could still turn things around.

It’s the first presidential election in living memory with two such uninspiring choices, and it’s got me thinking that a strong independent candidate – like when Texan billionaire Ross Perot ran in 1992 and 1996 – would have a genuine shot, for the first time, at upsetting the odds. Even a celebrity figure like Tom Hanks or Oprah Winfrey would wipe the floor with these two old farts.

Those in the “Anyone But Trump” corner need to look at the elephant in the room – or the Oval Office, in this case. Biden, who will coincidentally celebrate his 78th birthday just 17 days after the election, would have the dubious honour of being the oldest-ever president to serve his country. He will, by then, be close to surpassing the average life expectancy of 78.7 years in America. Who can say with any certainty that he would even serve his full four-year term?

After all, there’s serious question marks there about the health of an elderly man who has already suffered two brain aneurysms. Will he be fit and limber for much longer? He might not be lucid in a few years’ time, either. And, in a worst case scenario, there could be the dreadful image of a sitting US president being rolled out of the White House on a gurney.

It would automatically mean his VP would end up in the Oval Office by default – and in an ironic twist that might be Hillary Clinton, who, at a comparatively youthful 72, more and more resembles Gollum from ‘Lord of the Rings’.

It all begs the question: should there be an age limit set for those seeking to become the so-called leader of the free world? I’m not using old age as just an easy excuse to attack Biden, because this is something I also raised when my former journalist colleague, incumbent Irish President Michael D Higgins – whom I used to get on very well with – broke an election promise by running for a second term at the age of 80. Even though he was someone I knew and admired, it didn’t stop me from publicly raising concerns about his old age during that election too, which you can read here.

It might be third time lucky for Biden, who failed miserably in two previous presidential campaigns – but at what price for the Democrats if they fail in their duty to take this worrying allegation seriously?

If you like this story, share it with a friend!