Tara Reade, the woman who accused Joe Biden of sexual assault, just spoke out to say that Democrats are “gaslighting” survivors by mishandling her claims. She added that several days of watching the Democrat convention had been “traumatizing” for her to watch.
“I’ve communicated with other people who are watching this who had very visceral reactions to what’s happening and how sexual assault survivors. … We’re being gaslighted, right, collectively,” Reade told Fox News.
“They’re pretending that they’re the upholders of the ‘Me Too’ like a shield but meanwhile, some of their main Democratic elites, some of the main powerful people involved with the party are actually perpetrators themselves,” she added. “And it’s this denial, collective denial and gaslighting of survivors, that’s been so concerning to me.”
Not stopping there, Reade accused Democrats of being “complicit” in her assault.
“And frankly, I think the Democratic National Committee is complicit because they’re not just ignoring it,” she said. “They’re participating in it…and enabling those perpetrators.”
Reade Calls Out Democrats
Reade said that the inclusion of former President Bill Clinton —who has repeatedly been accused of sexual misconduct— in the speaker lineup for the DNC is “pretty unconscionable” and a “slap in the face to survivors.”
“I’m a sexual assault survivor, so to me, what the speaker lineup showed is kind of like a thumb in all of our faces. It was…really disappointing,” Reade said. “Rape culture in the United States is thriving under the Democratic Party. I feel that they are not only enabling but they are allowing that behavior to continue just by virtue of who they lined up as speakers who have credible sexual assault and harassment allegations against them and I feel like there’s an abandonment of the voices that are trying to be heard that really wanted systemic change.”
Reade has claimed that Biden sexually assaulted her back in 1993, when she was a staffer in his Senate office. Biden has denied the claims that she has made against him.
“They aren’t true. This never happened,” Biden said in a statement back in May.
Reade, however, has stood by her story. In her latest interview, she described herself as a “lifelong Democrat,” which has made her experience just as “excruciating…because I want to continue to have the representatives to vote for by my belief system.”
Reade May Speak At GOP Convention
She also said that her offer to speak at the GOP convention next week is “absolutely” on the table, adding that she would be “more than happy to do so.”
“I think survivors need a voice and I would be humbled and honored to help raise and lift that voice if that’s possible,” Reade said.
She then pointed out that sexual assault is a “nonpartisan issue” and that perpetrators come from every party.
“What I find really astounding has been the hypocrisy around the sexual assault and sexual harassment that I brought forth,” Reade said.
“When there were Republicans being accused of that, the media and the reaction from the Democratic Party was quite different and quite aggressive and quite hostile to the perpetrator, potential perpetrator before it was even investigated,” she added. “In my case, the hostility was directed right towards and I was basically silenced and erased by using classism and so on.”
She concluded, “I lost everything coming forward. I lost my work, housing, money, everything because I spoke out against one of the most powerful members of the Democratic Party.”
This piece was written by PoliZette Staff on August 20, 2020. It originally appeared in LifeZette and is used by permission.
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