Tara Reade, Woman Accusing Biden Of Sexual Assault, Praised Putin & Russia

Tara Reade, the former Senate staffer accusing Joe Biden of sexual assault, previously praised Russian President Vladimir Putin in a series of posts on Medium in 2018.

“President Putin has an alluring combination of strength with gentleness,” she wrote in a now-deleted post. “His sensuous image projects his love for life, the embodiment of grace while facing adversity.”

She also called Putin “a compassionate, caring, visionary leader, adding: “To President Putin, I say keep your eyes to the beautiful future and maybe, just maybe America will come to see Russia as I do, with eyes of love.”

In the same post, she said that she left government work in her 20s partially because “I love Russia with all my heart” and “I could not stand to watch the deception and xenophobia that came from my own American government.”

The posts can still be viewed in the Internet Archive.

Reade made those comments while working on a novel set in Russia, but has since walked back her statement after learning about the country’s domestic violence problem.

But “this conversation isn’t about Russia,” Reade told Vox. “Joe Biden wasn’t asking me about my feelings about Russia when he had his hands where they weren’t supposed to be.”