Tara Reade Says She Will Take Polygraph ‘If Joe Biden Takes One’ In First On-Camera Interview

TOPLINE

Tara Reade, a former Senate staffer who has accused Joe Biden of sexual assault and harassment in 1993—which he has denied—called on the former vice president to drop out of the 2020 presidential race on Thursday and said she would take a polygraph “if Joe Biden takes one” in an excerpt from her first on-air interview.

KEY FACTS

(A spokesman for the Biden campaign did not immediately respond to a request for comment.)

Tangent

The interview comes after Douglas Wigdor, a prominent sexual assault attorney, said that his firm will represent Reade.

Key background

Reade became one of eight women who accused Biden of inappropriate touching last year, telling her local California newspaper, The Union, that while Biden “used to put his hand on my shoulder and run his finger up my neck,” she didn’t feel she was a victim of sexualization, instead comparing it to being treated like an inanimate object, like a lamp. “It’s pretty. Set it over there,” she told the paper. “Then when it’s too bright, you throw it away.” Reade said her responsibilities in Biden’s office were reduced after she refused to serve drinks at an event.

In a podcast by Katie Halper published in March, Reade then claimed Biden sexually assaulted her in 1993, pressing her up against a wall, kissing her neck and penetrating her with his fingers by prying her legs open with his knees. She said he then laughed it off after she rebuffed him. She told Halper she did not share the full story previously because she feared retribution.

Crucial quote

Biden also addressed the allegations in a prepared statement last week: “While the details of these allegations of sexual assault are complicated, two things are not complicated. One is that women deserve to be treated with dignity and respect, and when they step forward they should be heard, not silenced.”

He went on, “The second is that their stories should be subject to appropriate inquiry and scrutiny.”

Further reading 

A Time Line Of Tara Reade’s Sexual Assault Allegations Against Joe Biden (Forbes)

Tara Reade calls on Biden to drop out in first on-camera interview (Axios)

Biden sex assault accuser Tara Reade calls for him to drop out of 2020 presidential race, says she’d take polygraph if he did (CNBC)

‘It Never Happened’: Joe Biden Denies Tara Reade Sexual Assault Allegations For The First Time (Forbes)