The Democratic party has become completely unglued on the issue of how to handle the controversy surrounding recent anti-Semitic remarks by Rep. Ilhan Omar (D-MN).
Some are absurdly defending her, while some 2020 presidential candidates are doing the “Whataboutism” dance in hopes that this issue will go away.
Sen. Cory Booker (D-NJ), also a presidential candidate, took a different approach yesterday. When a journalist asked Booker what his thoughts were on Omar, here’s what he had to say:
BOOKER: Any questions, anybody?
REPORTER: Regarding the controversy surrounding Congresswoman Omar
BOOKER:Can we do off topic questions when we finish? I will happily stand and talk with you about that…
(no one asks q's on topic and Booker jovially ends presser) pic.twitter.com/j3E4BMLe9t
— Alan He (@alanhe) March 7, 2019
When pressed on the issue later as he was getting on an elevator, Booker spluttered in his answer:
Booker’s full response below. Great work by @sarahmucha getting him on record on this pic.twitter.com/SQj694pYLQ
— Rebecca Buck (@RebeccaBuck) March 7, 2019
This shouldn’t be a surprise to anyone, however. When it comes to taking anyone on his side to task, Booker clams up and doesn’t want to talk about it. Or he’ll self-servingly say he “wants to wait for the facts” to come in before commenting.
But when it comes to issues he believes can make him look more presidential, he doesn’t waste any time:
The vicious attack on actor Jussie Smollett was an attempted modern-day lynching. I'm glad he's safe.
To those in Congress who don't feel the urgency to pass our Anti-Lynching bill designating lynching as a federal hate crime– I urge you to pay attention. https://t.co/EwXFxl5f2m
— Cory Booker (@CoryBooker) January 29, 2019
And who could forget his unrelenting hostility against then-Judge Brett Kavanaugh during his Supreme Court confirmation hearings?
Now this could be a thing where Booker doesn’t want to offend the women in his party, because he’s said they’re the first people he’d look to for a running mate if he were to become the Democratic nominee for president.
But more likely this is Booker doing what much of the rest of his party is doing in invoking their new “All Lives Matter” standard.
This is not leadership. Seriously, how hard can it be to unequivocally condemn anti-Semitism?
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—Sister Toldjah is a former liberal and a 15+ year veteran of blogging with an emphasis on media bias, social issues, and the culture wars. Read her Red State archives here. Connect with her on Twitter.–
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