Well, it looks like Sen. Bernie Sanders’ 2020 campaign has hit another iceberg. Will it be disqualifying? Probably not, but it only adds to the ongoing drama within the Democratic Party as it deals with members who are peddling anti-Semitic talking points. On Tuesday, a spokesperson for his campaign was forced to apologize after peddling the dual loyalty smear that is exactly what landed Rep. Ilhan Omar (D-MN) in hot water, forcing the leadership to vote on a resolution on anti-Semitism, which was then watered down to a pathetic anti-hate resolution that sought to avoid singling out Omar for her gross remarks. The whole fiasco showed how weak of a speaker Pelosi has become, and that she has little to no control over her own caucus. Omar has a history of peddling anti-Semitic remarks, from her “all about the Benjamins” remark about contributions and AIPAC to saying Israel has hypnotized the world to its alleged wrongdoings—she has become a thorn in the side of her Democratic colleagues. Well, okay—maybe the older members, but it’s allowed President Trump to attack the Left as being anti-Jewish. Given their weak sauce effort to confront Omar’s bigoted nonsense, he’s not wrong. But let’s circle back to the anti-Semitic episode that’s struck Mr. Sanders’ campaign staff. And yes, this example was much more explicit (via Washington Examiner) [emphasis mine]:
A spokesperson for Sen. Bernie Sanders, I-Vt., was forced to apologize on Tuesday for spreading the idea that Jews had dual-loyalty, thus demonstrating that liberal anti-Semitism is not confined to the utterances of Rep. Ilhan Omar, D-Minn.
In the wake over the dustup caused by Omar's remarks in which she lamented Jewish influence in politics which she said pushes people to declare their allegiance to a foreign government, many of her defenders argued her remarks didn't have anything to do with Jews, and that really she was just talking about the influence on pro-Israel lobbying, just as she would any other special interest group.
But Belen Sisa, Sanders’ national deputy press secretary, left no doubt that she was questioning Jewish loyalty.
In a Facebook thread, Sisa wrote, "This is a serious question: do you not think that the American government and American Jewish community has a dual allegiance to the state of Israel?I’m asking not to rule out the history of this issue, but in the context in which this was said by Ilhan.”
After Politico contacted Sisa about the comments, she apologized.
Anti-Semites often view the people they don’t like as sub-human, and this reaction from @IlhanMN is certainly consistent with that kind of mindset. https://t.co/RkBTs0xDHC
— Matt Wolking (@MattWolking) March 12, 2019
Fox News’ Guerin Hays asks Ilhan Omar about last week's Politico article: “Do you think President Obama is the same as President Trump?”
— Ryan Saavedra (@RealSaavedra) March 12, 2019
Omar: “Absolutely not. … One is human the other is not”
Omar's dehumanizing remarks come after she was slammed last week for anti-Semitism pic.twitter.com/zFvi4KoicY
So, I guess Omar can enjoy some company on this front. At the same time, Sanders 2020 is facing this drama, along with his apparent negligence in dealing with the allegations of sexism and sexual harassment that were rampant during his 2016 bid. Why didn’t he address it? Well, he was just too busy campaigning.