Politics

Former Hillary Adviser Calls Biden To Drop Out: ‘We Lose All Moral Authority’ If We Don’t Take Tara Reade Seriously

Virginia Kruta Associate Editor
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Peter Daou called Saturday for former vice president and presumptive 2020 Democratic nominee Joe Biden to drop out of the race.

Citing new evidence of possible sexual misconduct, Daou — who had previously advised both former Secretaries of State Hillary Clinton and John Kerry — argued that the party could not afford for Biden to not take the accusations of former aide Tara Reade seriously. (RELATED: Biden Accuser Tells Us New Video Evidence Proves Her Allegations Are True)

Daou began by saying that “BIDEN SHOULD WITHDRAW,” noting that, while he respected the will of the American people, “Credible rape accusations are disqualifying or we have NO moral standards.”

Predicting “potential catastrophe in Nov.,” Daou went on to suggest that any number of candidates who had already bowed out of the race could come back to replace Biden — or that Independent Vermont Sen. Bernie Sanders could simply press play on his paused campaign.

Calling a Biden withdrawal both “the ethical position AND the smarter strategy to beat Trump,” Daou went on to say that Democrats would “lose ALL moral authority if we embrace ‘the lesser of two accused rapists.'”

Daou followed his initial thread with several addendums, the first of which addressed his position on sexual assault accusations regardless of the party affiliation of the accused. Arguing that #MeToo could not be partisan if it were to have any meaning, he said that the same standard should be applied to former President Bill Clinton.

The second addressed Sanders and the fact that he was calling for Biden’s withdrawal on moral grounds rather than an effort to promote the Vermont senator. “This is about RED MORAL LINES. Sexual assault is unquestionably one of those lines,” he tweeted.

Daou’s overall assessment was that a campaign based on the “lesser of evils” would result in failure. “If you really want to win, DO NOT COMPROMISE BASIC MORAL STANDARDS. It is a sure formula for losing,” he explained.

Daou concluded with an attack on Democratic leadership in Congress, naming House Speaker Nancy Pelosi and Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer specifically and blaming them for allowing a number of President Donald Trump’s policies to get through.

Daou joined a number of people on both sides of the aisle in sharing the hashtag #DropOutBiden in the wake of the most recent information about Tara Reade’s alleged sexual assault.