Tara Reade: Biden’s inauguration makes ‘difficult day for survivors of sexual violence’

Former Senate staffer Tara Reade says watching the inauguration of President Biden has made for a “terribly painful” day.

Ms. Reade, who claims that Mr. Biden used his fingers to sexually assault her in 1993 while he was still a senator, told Twitter followers that watching history unfold was surreal since she ideologically disagrees with former President Trump.

“Today is yet again another difficult day for survivors of sexual violence,” Ms. Reade tweeted. “While I’m thankful Trump was defeated, the idea of the man who assaulted me as our president is still terribly painful. I will be sharing resources for survivors today for #Inauguration2021.”

Mr. Biden has consistently denied any wrongdoing.

“They aren’t true,” Mr. Biden told MSNBC last May of the claims. “This never happened.”

Regardless, Ms. Reade has no intention of staying quiet.

“Coming forward about being sexually harassed and assaulted in 1993 when I was Joe Biden’s staffer was excruciating on so many levels,” she told The Daily Caller. “I stand in solidarity with all survivors coming up against such power. I will not be silenced. Instead of talking about saving the country’s soul, he should be held accountable for his actions. The hard part is I believe in many policies that will move forward as I am a progressive Independent but it is unspeakably hard to watch the man who assaulted me go to the most powerful position in the land.”

Ms. Reade told reporters in May that trying to get media outlets to hear her story shifted her thinking on claims of media bias.

“I used to think that a Republican talking point was to call the mainstream media biased,” she told BuzzFeed News. “So I used to think, Oh, that’s just a talking point for them. I don’t believe it. But now I’m living it [in] real time, and I see it — like, I see it for what it is. … It was [also] really devastating when [Kirsten] Gillibrand and Stacey Abrams and Hillary Clinton, all on the same day, just basically implied my story wasn’t true and they believe Joe Biden. I can’t describe to you what that felt like. … They didn’t just say, ‘Oh, we’re standing with Joe Biden until we hear more.’ They just discounted me. They marginalized me. They said they didn’t believe me.”

Today is yet again another difficult day for survivors of sexual violence. While I’m thankful Trump was defeated, the idea of the man who assaulted me as our president is still terribly painful. I will be sharing resources for survivors today for #Inauguration2021

— Tara Reade 🦋 (@ReadeAlexandra) January 20, 2021