Amid the usual softball questions from The View’s liberal co-hosts Wednesday morning, socialist Vermont Senator Bernie Sanders was also grilled by Meghan McCain on the vile anti-Semitism coming from far-left members of the Squad in Congress, his radical proteges. She demanded to know how he could “stand by everything AOC, Rashida Tlaib, and Ilhan Omar have said and done.”
“Senator Sanders, you have been a vocal critic of certain Israeli policies, with still acknowledging and sometimes even celebrating Israel’s right to exist as a Jewish state,” McCain observed in the first part of the segment. She then pointed out that “some of your surrogates and supporters have taken things in a different direction, calling Israel an ‘apartheid state,’ publicly pronouncing themselves as anti-Zionist, and implying that Israel is akin to terrorist organizations.”
McCain directly asked him: “Do you agree that this kind of extreme anti-Israel rhetoric – and I want to make it clear again, I am not talking about criticizing specific Israeli policies – has contributed to the rise in attacks against Jewish-Americans?” She even cited a recent interview she conducted with a victim of one of those attacks: “Joseph Borgen, who was the victim of an anti-Semitic attack in New York City, and he is deeply dissatisfied with the response from Democrats.”
Sanders condemned the bigotry: “Well, look, anti-Semitism is a serious and growing problem not only in this country, around the world, and it is obviously unacceptable, and we have to combat it in every – in any and every way.” However, he then resorted to general platitudes about the Israeli-Palestinian conflict and creating a peace process.
After a commercial break, McCain again pressed Sanders on the topic, hitting harder by naming and shaming left-wing members of Congress:
Senator Sanders, you are the godfather of the Squad. You’re a hyper-progressive socialist and you were talking about social justice before it was cool. But it feels like the Squad today has moved even to the left of you. How is it for you to stand by everything AOC, Rashida Tlaib, and Ilhan Omar have said and done, particularly when it comes to Israel, and talking about from the river to the sea and the extermination of Israel as a right to exist, or do you think the movement which you started has moved away from what you envisioned?
At first, Sanders tried to falsely claim such comments hadn’t been uttered: “Well, Meghan, first of all, I don’t believe that’s what they’re saying...” He then added: “...and second of all, it’s not my job to have to defend any member of Congress any more than it is their job to defend every statement that I make.”
In reality, Michigan Congresswoman Rashida Tlaib deleted a tweet in December which included the anti-Israel phrase “From the river to the sea, Palestine will be free,” suggesting the end of the Jewish state. In May, the radical Democratic lawmaker was caught holding a fundraiser with a Holocaust skeptic.
On Wednesday, Sanders told McCain that “the progressives in the House are doing a very good job standing up for working families” and reiterated: “It’s not my job to comment about everything that every member of the House says, any more than it is for them to comment on what I say.”
Apparently that means he doesn’t mind when Minnesota Congresswoman Ilhan Omar compares the U.S. and Israel to terrorist organizations or when New York Congresswoman Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez tars Israel as an “apartheid state.”
At least someone is trying to actually hold the left accountable for it’s outrageous and offensive rhetoric.
This contentious exchange was brought to ABC viewers by Procter & Gamble and Liberty Mutual.
Here is a transcript of the June 23 exchange:
11:36 AM ET
(...)
MEGHAN MCCAIN: Senator Sanders, you have been a vocal critic of certain Israeli policies, with still acknowledging and sometimes even celebrating Israel’s right to exist as a Jewish state. But some of your surrogates and supporters have taken things in a different direction, calling Israel an “apartheid state,” publicly pronouncing themselves as anti-Zionist, and implying that Israel is akin to terrorist organizations. Do you agree that this kind of extreme anti-Israel rhetoric – and I want to make it clear again, I am not talking about criticizing specific Israeli policies – has contributed to the rise in attacks against Jewish-Americans? Because I interviewed Joseph Borgen, who was the victim of an anti-Semitic attack in New York City, and he is deeply dissatisfied with the response from Democrats.
SEN. BERNIE SANDERS [I-VT]: Well, look, anti-Semitism is a serious and growing problem not only in this country, around the world, and it is obviously unacceptable, and we have to combat it in every – in any and every way. My own view in terms of American policy toward the Middle East or Israel and the Palestinians is that we need an even-handed policy. It cannot simply be 100% pro-Israel, that we have to understand that in Gaza for example, you have 60% youth unemployment. You have a horrendous situation which was only made worse by the recent war. So what I want to see is our country play an even-handed role, and I want to see the United States work with other countries to try to bring the Israelis and the Palestinians together to bring about some peace in that region.
(...)
11:44 AM ET
MCCAIN: Senator Sanders, you are the godfather of the Squad. You’re a hyper-progressive socialist and you were talking about social justice before it was cool. But it feels like the Squad today has moved even to the left of you. How is it for you to stand by everything AOC, Rashida Tlaib, and Ilhan Omar have said and done, particularly when it comes to Israel, and talking about from the river to the sea and the extermination of Israel as a right to exist, or do you think the movement which you started has moved away from what you envisioned?
SANDERS: Well, Meghan, first of all, I don’t believe that’s what they’re saying, and second of all, it’s not my job to have to defend any member of Congress any more than it is their job to defend every statement that I make.
What I am focusing on right now is the reality that for the last many, many decades, the very rich in America have become much richer while working people are struggling. Real wages have not gone up in 48 years. And what I’m working on right now is a budget which says to the wealthiest people in this country, you know what? Even if you’re a multi-billionaire with incredible power, you’re gonna have to start paying your taxes. Large profitable corporations will start paying their taxes so that we can, in fact, rebuild our infrastructure, create good-paying jobs, make sure that families can afford child care, expand medicare so that elderly people can have teeth in their mouth and be able to hear and have eyeglasses that they can afford. That’s what I am focusing on right now.
I think the folks in the – the progressives in the House are doing a very good job standing up for working families. It’s not my job to comment about everything that every member of the House says, any more than it is for them to comment on what I say.
(...)
