Tara Reade says watching Biden's inauguration was 'exceptionally hard': I want to 'wake up from a nightmare'

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Tara Reade speaks out on Democratic convention

Tara Reade says DNC is 'complicit' in 'gaslighting' sexual assault survivors.

Tara Reade, the former Senate staffer who came forward during the 2020 campaign with a sexual assault allegation against Joe Biden, is speaking out about her former boss taking the oath of office as the 46th president of the United States. 

"Yesterday was exceptionally hard on many levels, because the media, certain media outlets made it so clear that I was to be smeared, ignored, and erased. And they were pretty successful in doing so," Reade told Fox News on Thursday. "To watch this powerful man who I've worked for, who I had admired when I first worked for him and then later became horrified of what he did, to watch him ascend to the most powerful job in the world. I can't really describe the feeling except I keep wanting to wake up from a nightmare." 

TARA READE'S TIMELINE: FROM 1990s BIDEN STAFFER TO CENTER OF POLITICAL FIRESTORM

Reade, who now identifies as a "progressive independent" after previously describing herself as a lifelong Democrat, feels conflicted about the Biden presidency. While she is supportive of the new administration's liberal agenda, the "person carrying it out ... sexually harassed and sexually assaulted me."

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"The Democratic Party continues to be complicit with sexual misconduct. It will only shine a light on it when it's a Republican or someone else," Reade said. "And until sexual misconduct is seen as non-partisan, institutionalized rape culture will stay in place and powerful men will continue to be able to get away with crimes. And not only get away with it but be rewarded with more power." 

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Reade told The Daily Caller on Wednesday that she "stand[s] in solidarity with all survivors coming up against such power." 

In March 2020, Reade alleged that Biden, then a senator from Delaware, sexually assaulted her in 1993. She previously came forward in 2019, along with other women who accused the then-Democratic presidential candidate of inappropriate touching. Biden and his campaign have repeatedly denied her claims.