Top advisors to former Vice President Joe Biden’s campaign secretly apologized for one aide’s comments distancing Biden’s campaign from notorious anti-semite and former Women's March leader Linda Sarsour. At last week’s Democratic National Convention, Sarsour was given a speaking slot, and both the Biden campaign and DNC received backlash for giving Sarsour a platform.
Biden’s campaign spokesperson initially claimed ignorance of Sarsour’s participation in the convention, and insisted that she has “no participation” in the campaign”
“... She has no role in the Biden campaign whatsoever."
— Jake Tapper (@jaketapper) August 19, 2020
A Dem official says this was a meeting of Muslim delegates to the convention room and not run by the DNC or the Biden campaign.
But as the Middle East Eye first reported, Biden’s campaign aides privately apologized for disparaging Sarsour, on a call with left-wing activists. Top Biden aide Symone Sanders called the comments against Sarsour an “egregious misstep” and said that the operation does not recognize criticism of Israel as antisemitism.
"That's not how we do business…We are not in the business of condemning people and large swathes of the community, absolutely not," Biden advisor Symone Sanders said.
In another 180-degree spin, once the private call was made public, Sanders affirmed the Biden campaign’s rejection of Sarsour’s radical views:
2/ “... that was caused to these communities. We continue to reject the views that Linda Sarsour has expressed."
— Jake Tapper (@jaketapper) August 23, 2020
Denouncing Sarsour should be a no-brainer given her history of antisemitism. This controversy embodies Biden’s struggle to navigate appeasing both centrist and mainstream Democratic voters and far-left radicals.
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