One of Tara Reade’s former co-workers said she was fired from her job in then-Sen. Joseph R. Biden’s office not in retaliation for accusing her boss of sexual misconduct, but because she stunk at her job, according to a report from “PBS NewsHour.”
Mr. Biden’s White House bid has been knocked off balance by Ms. Reade’s allegation that Mr. Biden pinned her against a wall on Capitol Hill in 1993, shoved his hand down her skirt and penetrated her with his fingers.
Mr. Biden denies the claim.
Ben Savage, who worked for Mr. Biden from 1993 to 1996, told “PBS NewsHour” that he worked with Ms. Reade processing constituent mail and that she lost her job because of her poor performance.
“Of all the people who held that position, she’s the only one during my time there who couldn’t necessarily keep up or who found it frustrating,” Mr. Savage said.
That is one of the accounts the news organization came across during interviews with 74 people, including 62 women, who worked for Mr. Biden over the course of his 36 years in the Senate and eight more in the White House.
Former and current Biden staffers were asked to weigh in on Ms. Reade’s allegation and share their experience on what it was like to work for the former Delaware senator.
PBS reported that employees didn’t want to say for certain whether Ms. Reade was telling the truth.
None of them said they experienced sexual misconduct, harassment or assault while working for Mr. Biden.
They said Ms. Reade’s allegation doesn’t match up with their experiences, and that Mr. Biden emphasized treating men and women equally.
• Seth McLaughlin can be reached at smclaughlin@washingtontimes.com.
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