Hillary Clinton should have fired adviser accused of harassment, says 2008 campaign manager

(Image credit: Screenshot/Twitter/CurtisHouck)

published 29 January 2018

On Monday, Hillary Clinton's 2008 campaign manager conceded that Clinton made a mistake by not firing a top aide accused of sexual harassment. The New York Times reported last Friday that during her 2008 run, Clinton refused to fire Burns Strider — the campaign's faith adviser — after he was accused of sexual harassment by another staffer. Shortly after the allegations against Strider became public, Clinton addressed the story on Twitter with a non-apology that was lambasted by people on both sides of the aisle.

Patti Solis Doyle, Clinton's campaign boss in 2008, appeared on CNN on Monday to talk about her former boss' decision. Doyle said she found the allegations against Strider "credible" and confirmed to CNN's Brianna Keilar that she was "overruled" by Clinton when she recommended Strider's firing. "Why doesn't [Clinton] just look back and say, 'This was the wrong call?'" Keilar asked. Doyle took in a sharp breath before saying, "You know, I don't know."

Doyle continued: "I wish she had said it was the wrong call. I wish she had said, 'You know, having to do it over, I should have fired him.'" Keilar pointed out that Strider later got an important job at the Clinton-affiliated super PAC Correct the Record — where he was fired after allegations of sexual harassment. Keilar asked if Clinton's reluctance to fire Strider "gave him a platform to then go on and harass other women." Doyle replied in the affirmative: "I feel a great deal of regret that I didn't ... push harder for him to be fired."

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Kelly O'Meara Morales is a staff writer at The Week. He graduated from Sarah Lawrence College and studied Middle Eastern history and nonfiction writing amongst other esoteric subjects. When not compulsively checking Twitter, he writes and records music, subsists on tacos, and watches basketball.