On Friday night, Bill Maher took it upon himself to question Tara Reade’s allegation that Joe Biden, the presumptive Democratic nominee for president, pinned her against a wall and digitally penetrated her without her consent in 1993, while she was employed as a junior staffer Biden’s Senate office.
Maher said he felt Reade’s claim was “ridiculous and that it would go away, and no one would pay any attention to it,” which tracks for the #MeToo skeptic, who recently defended his pal Chris Matthews after he stepped down from MSNBC following sexual-harassment allegations and mocked the former pundit’s accusers.
Maher’s HBO network-mate John Oliver is taking Reade’s allegation a bit more seriously, kicking off this week’s edition of Last Week Tonight by assuring his audience that they’re tracking the Reade story and will address it soon.
“Now, he’s denied that claim, but there are clearly big questions still to be answered here, and Tara Reade obviously deserves to be heard the way that anyone does when they make the difficult choice to come forward with allegations of this kind—allegations which should, of course, be fully investigated. And I am sure that we will talk more about this as the story unfolds,” offered Oliver.
We’ll keep an eye out on any further coverage from Oliver and his team of Reade’s sexual-assault allegation against Biden.
On a lighter note, the comic then focused on conspiracy theorist Alex Jones, who this week said he would “eat” his neighbors’ “ass” if the COVID-19 pandemic continues apace.
“I’ll admit it: I will eat my neighbors. I’m not letting my kids die, I’m just being honest,” said Jones. “I’m literally looking at my neighbors now and going, am I ready to hang them up and gut them and skin them, and chop them up? And you know what, I’m ready. My daughters aren’t starving to death… I’ll eat your ass.”
“Wow. There is a lot to unpack there. Obviously, there’s the ass-eating promise, but even before that, he’s threatening to feed his neighbors to his daughters, which is weird enough before you consider: He also has a son. What about him, A.J.?” Oliver jokingly asked. “Why doesn’t he get to eat any human flesh? Also, Alex Jones is making plans to desperately devour his neighbors several years out while also wearing an $8,000 watch. You know, I’d maybe at least consider selling that or, I don’t know, planting a garden before stooping to cannibalism.”
