Joe Biden has enjoyed the privilege of consistently being the frontrunner in the vast majority of polling regarding Democratic candidates running for president – even when he wasn’t officially a candidate. But in spite of that, one of the most persistent criticisms of him from the progressive left is that he isn’t “woke” enough.

He found that out the hard way after Sen. Kamala Harris (D-CA) disingenuously broadsided him at the first debate about his praising working with segregationist Senators back in the 70s in order to get things done, and for his stance at the time on busing. Though he ultimately recovered from her attack, the questions about his “wokeness” have still lingered.

On Thursday, in the midst of the wave of criticisms being directed at Israel from mostly Democrats over the country’s decision to bar BDS proponents Reps. Rashida Tlaib (D-MI) and Ilhan Omar (D-MN) entry into their country on security grounds, Biden pounced and seized on the opportunity to win over some of his “woke” skeptics.

Here’s what he tweeted:

I have always been a stalwart supporter of Israel—a vital partner that shares our democratic values. No democracy should deny entry to visitors based on the content of their ideas—even ideas they strongly object to. And no leader of the free world should encourage them to do so.

— Joe Biden (@JoeBiden) August 15, 2019

Biden left out that something similar also happened under the Obama/Biden administration, where the administration did a little entry barring of their own:

Remember that time the Obama administration barred a member of Israeli Knesset from entering the United States in 2012? Because you were vice president at the time. https://t.co/kBl47NJ9Tn

— Ben Shapiro (@benshapiro) August 15, 2019

Hot Air‘s Karen Townsend explains in detail:

In that case, the person denied a visa to enter the United States to attend a conference was Michael Ben Ari. The reason given was that, according to the State Department, Ben Ari had ties to a terrorist group. This idea centered around Ben Ari’s conservative views and actions. He follows Kahanism ideology which means he believes that Arabs shouldn’t be living in Israel and shouldn’t have voting rights in Israel. The Kach party has been banned by the Israeli government and the U.S. State Department has labeled it a Foreign Terrorist Organization.

Michael Ben Ari’s denial of entry would fall into the same category as Tlaib’s since both were denied due to their political statements. Yet Biden only voiced objection to one and that happened in the course of his Democrat primary campaign. Biden didn’t personally make the decision in 2012, of course, but I am surprised he weighed in as he did, given the dreadful relationship the Obama administration had with Israel and Prime Minister Netanyahu in particular.

Whether Biden either conveniently forgot or really didn’t remember the Ben Ari denial of entry or not, his tweet denouncing Israel’s decision may not be enough for The Squad and their defenders for a couple of reasons:

1) Biden didn’t tweet about the issue fast enough for some on the left (though he posted on the issue around the same time Tlaib did and within an hour of when Omar did):

As Warren and Sanders swiftly condemned Israel for barring Congresswomen, Pelosi and Biden hesitated https://t.co/Jp4dUi12TV

— The Intercept (@theintercept) August 16, 2019

2) He noted in his tweet that he had always been a staunch supporter of Israel, which is an absolute no-no in the fever swamps of the activist left.

It would seem that matter how hard he tries, Biden just cannot be “woke” enough for the progressive left. Whether or not that ultimately works to his advantage in 2020 as more people begin to tire of The Squad’s obvious political games remains to be seen.

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— Based in North Carolina, 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. –