Tara Reade wants media to ask Harris about 'smear campaign' over sex assault claim against Biden
Former Biden staffer calls Democratic Party 'enabler to sexual predators'
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Joe Biden accuser Tara Reade has called on the media to ask Sen. Kamala Harris, D-Calif., about the "smear campaign" Reade alleges was waged against her after her claim the presumptive Democratic nominee sexually assaulted her in 1993 was made public earlier this year.
“Journalists should be asking her [Harris] pointedly why there was a smear campaign on me and why Kamala was so aggressive and assertive with [then-Supreme Court nominee Brett] Kavanaugh and here she knows there is a credible sexual assault accusation against Senator Biden," she told the conservative website Newsbusters in an article published Wednesday.
Harris, a member of the Senate Judiciary Committee, was one of the leading opponents of Kavanaugh's confirmation and previously said she believed women who accused Biden of inappropriate touching.
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FLASHBACK: KAMALA HARRIS SAID SHE BELIEVED WOMEN WHO ACCUSED BIDEN OF INAPPROPRIATE TOUCHING
“I believe them, and I respect them being able to tell their story and having the courage to do it,” she said last year, while she was still seeking the Democratic nomination. In an April interview with the San Francisco Chronicle, Harris said Reade "has a right to tell her story, and I believe that, and I believe Joe Biden believes that, too ... She has a right to tell her story, and she shouldn't face any repercussions for that.”
Reade's sexual assault allegation against Biden was made public this past March. In April 2019, Reade was one of eight women who came forward with allegations of inappropriate touching by the former senator and vice president.
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TARA READE TIMELINE: FROM 1990S BIDEN STAFFER TO CENTER OF POLITICAL FIRESTORM
When Reade was asked by reporter Scott Whitlock Wednesday if any media outlets had contacted her since Harris was tapped to be Biden's running mate, Reade answered, "The networks? No. Radio silence."
Fox News previously noted how "The View," Democratic politicians, and media outlets appeared to ignore Reade's accusations when they first surfaced.
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Reade, a self-described "lifelong Democrat," previoulsy worked in Biden's Senate office and voted for Hillary Clinton in 2016. However, she's become critical of the party's approach to sexual misconduct claims.
“The Democratic Party has become an enabler to sexual predators," she told Newsbusters.
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She also blasted the decision to feature former President Bill Clinton as a speaker at the Democratic National Convention as "unconscionable."
"I voted for him and believed in him," she said. "It is unconscionable that he is being allowed to speak and it speaks volumes about the Democratic National Committee ... The only way we can stop human trafficking and sexual violence is to call it out and shine a light on it and not allow these people to continue in power."
Fox News' Adam Shaw contributed to this report.