May 9, 2020 | 12:09am
Joe Biden sex-assault accuser Tara Reade said she used to be a die-hard Barack Obama supporter — but she has left the Democratic Party after the blowback to her claims against the presumptive Democratic presidential nominee.
Reade, who has accused Biden of sexually assaulting her in his Senate office in 1993, said she voted for Obama for president in 2008 and 2012 — but now feels she has no party to turn to.
“I’m leaving the Democratic Party and I won’t be part of any,” Reade said during an interview with Megyn Kelly published in its entirety Friday.
“I won’t be a Republican; it’s just not my political belief system,” she went on. “I’ve been pretty much progressive all my life…I feel politically homeless.”
Biden and his campaign have strenuously denied the alleged assault took place. Reade insists she was thrown against a wall and sexually violated by Biden when she worked as one of his staff assistants.
When asked by Kelly of a “double-standard” among Democrats, Reade said she has been “upset” and “angry” watching people like Elizabeth Warren continue to support Biden.
“I don’t really care deep down if they believe me or not … but I want other survivors to know that they can come forward,” Reade continued.
“And when they see this sort of onslaught, this sort of partisanship, it’s very discouraging.
“So we can come forward unless it’s a Democrat? Is that the message that they’re sending?” she said.
Reade said that at the time she voted for Obama, her daughter was young and she wasn’t ready to come forward and face the spotlight.
“I wasn’t voting for [Biden]; I was voting for Obama,” she said. “I mean, I was really hopeful and happy that Obama became president, and Joe Biden happened to be on the ticket.”
Reade sidestepped certain questions, including when Kelly brought up her bizarrely effusive praise of Vladimir Putin in the past.
Reade essentially said she was combatting anti-Russian sentiment but has since had a change of heart on the Russian president.
“What I would say now that I don’t appreciate his view about, for instance, domestic violence programs,” she said. “There’s not a lot of support for women, from my understanding.
After the alleged assault, Reade said she did file a formal complaint about behavior in Biden’s office — though she didn’t mention the incident or any prior sexual harassment.
She said she filed a complaint after she felt she had been retaliated against for refusing to serve drinks at a fundraiser. Biden allegedly requested she do so be he “liked my legs and thought I was pretty,” Reade said.
Marianne Baker, Biden’s executive assistant and Reade’s boss, afterward told Reade she had to dress more conservatively and not “look so sexy and noticeable,” according to Reade.
Reade denied that her accusations were purely politically motivated.
“I think everything is political…but this is deeper than that,” she said.
“This is about watching the person that assaulted me be elevated to the highest office in the land. He’s running on a platform of character and I, I just, I found that gross.”
