In 1998, Juanita Broaddrick claimed that, in 1978 Bill Clinton, then the Attorney General of Arkansas, raped her in a hotel room. The next year, CBS anchor Dan Rather declared that, even if true, "it happened a long time ago" (21 years) and it was time to "move on."

Noting the media double-standard in covering such allegations, a Newsbusters flashback blog reports:

“Take, for example, our report in 1999 that not-yet-disgraced CBS Evening News anchor Dan Rather provided the Exact Opposite of the Matt Dowd philosophy. It was the Don Imus radio show -- then simulcast on MSNBC -- on February 23, 1999. When women cry rape, it doesn't matter whether it's true. It's too dated for the truth to matter, and besides, we think the American people are tired of all these accusations”:

DON IMUS: Even this Juanita Broaddrick thing that, this interview that the people over there at NBC News have been sittin' on for some reason, who knows but --

DAN RATHER: Well, I think the reason is pretty obvious that they're, they don't call me and tell me why they run or don't run these things, but I think it's pretty obvious. They are nervous about, number one, whether this information is accurate, whether it's really true or not.