FACT CHECK: Does This Photo Show Joe Biden Posing With Tara Reade?

Matt Noel | Fact Check Reporter

An image shared on Facebook purportedly shows former Vice President Joe Biden standing with former Senate staffer Tara Reade, who accused Biden of sexually assaulting her in the early 1990s.

“Joe Biden says he can’t remember Tara Reade,” the caption says. “Perhaps this will help to refresh his memory!”

Verdict: False

The image actually shows Biden posing in 1993 with Zoe Baird, then-President Bill Clinton’s attorney general nominee.

Fact Check:

Reade, who worked for Biden as a Senate staffer in 1993, has accused the then-senator of kissing her, touching her and penetrating her with his fingers without her consent. Biden denied the allegations through a spokesperson and directly during an interview on MSNBC’s “Morning Joe.”

The photo, found through a reverse image search, actually shows Biden posing with Baird, whom Clinton nominated for attorney general. Then-Associated Press photographer Ron Edmonds took the photo in 1993, according to the caption. (RELATED: Does This Picture Show Joe Biden Biting A Child On The Cheek?)

“Attorney General-designate Zoe Baird meets with Sen. Joseph Biden (D-Del.), chairman of the Senate Judiciary Committee on Capitol Hill in Washington, Jan. 6, 1993,” the full caption reads. “Biden will chair the committee during Baird’s confirmation hearings.”

Baird ultimately withdrew her nomination after facing backlash for hiring two undocumented immigrants to help care for her child, according to the Los Angeles Times.

Matt Noel

Fact Check Reporter
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