Just to review: Sanders endorses Cenk Uygur; discovers sexist comments; immediately retracts it

[brooklynite]

Sanders hires Darius Khalil Gordon as staffer; discovers homophobic comments; immediately fires him

Sanders hires Matt Orfalea as staffer; discovers racist comments; immediately fires him

Is anyone detecting a pattern?

[Fresh_Start]

1. he likes sexists people

until it becomes too uncomfortable for him?

Cenk's misogyny was not hidden.

[Hav]

2. The pattern? Either that the vetting process is lacking

or they thought they could get away if endorsing/hiring douchebags and aholes of all varieties.

[tishaLA]

5. The latter, it seems nt

[The Velveteen Ocelot]

3. Somebody isn't doing a very good job of vetting -

even though just a few minutes on Google would have uncovered most of this stuff.

[Happy Hoosier]

20. This has happened more than once.

Either Sanders doesn't care enough to fix it, or he is somehow unable to. Neither bodes well for how he'd staff his cabinet. I can already see him making nominations then having to retract them.

[tishaLA]

4. You're missing an important step on the gross sexist front

this morning, after the shit storm the endorsement created, the gross sexist said he wasn't going to accept endorsements, which provided the cover necessary for the junior senator from VT to withdraw his endorsement.

It's not like the senator didn't know who Cenk was. He'd been thrown out of a group he co-founded, for god's sake, and it's a group a lot of people around his campaign are affiliated with.

[awesomerwb1]

28. Bingo.

Nailed it.

[ritapria]

6. Did one of our candidates attend a Tea Party event in 2012 ?

[brooklynite]

8. Did one of our candidates go on Fox News in 2019?

I have no problem with candidates talking to people who disagree with them.

[LongtimeAZDem]

38. You're equating meeting the public with endorsing a vile misogynist?

[booley]

7. Sanders couldnt endorse Uygur anyway

Cenk Uygur is not accepting endorsements

[Hav]

10. But he did endorse him, that is what matters

It doesn't matter whether a candidate later says he doesn't want endorsements. When you came out to endorse someone, it still stands as what it is: Endorsing the person in favor of the other primary candidates.

[sheshe2]

27. Then doubled down on said endorsement.

[brooklynite]

11. Endorsements aren't like cash...you can't give them back.

Anyone can make an endorsement, and Sanders did. Cenk can retroactively decide (after getting into trouble) not to "accept" them, but Bernie has already put down his marker as to whom he thinks would be a fine member of Congress.

[Wawannabe]

14. Put down his marker

That was a brilliant analogy of what occurred with this endorsement that wasn’t an endorsement because the endorsee wasn’t accepting endorsements!

Sound familiar??? Wompish even?

[brooklynite]

15. I concede your point: Sanders COULDN'T make an endorsement...

...unless Uygur's campaign announced it.

“I’m endorsing Cenk because I know he will serve ordinary people, not powerful special interests,” Sanders said on Thursday, in a statement released with much fanfare by Uygur’s campaign. “He is a voice that we desperately need in Congress and will be a great representative for CA-25 and the country.”

[Wawannabe]

18. I wanna be clear that my comment was in support of yours

It was hard to follow my sarcasm maybe but I was referring to another comment that said Sanders couldn’t endorse because Cenk not taking endorsements.

Thought I was in the twilight zone and republicans were shouting at me that the Cenk endorsement wasn’t an endorsement because the endorsee wasn’t accepting endorsements.

Oh my! I better take a break cuz this is one FREAKY Friday in the DU primary forum.

[Blue_true]

46. Yep. nt

[Wawannabe]

13. Wow

That is the same as a tRump defense right now. Wow!

[sheshe2]

29. You mean...

I hardly knew the man, never met him, well once... perhaps twice. I am sure he is a very good person and his wife has always loved him, I don't know that for a fact as I never knew him.

[LongtimeAZDem]

40. He was this morning:

Link to tweet

[George II]

9. Something is wrong if he just discovered all of those comments. They've been public.....

....and discussed for quite some time. One wonders what kind of staff he has if he discovered them in the last day. Did they not know about Uygur's comments, or were they too afraid to bring them to his attention?

[Cha]

22. BS campaign knew about cenk.. this is revisionist history..

Link to tweet

[George II]

25. Ro Khanna is Sanders' campaign co-chair. Of course he knows since he refers to him....

...as "acknowledging their mistakes". The thing is, though, that Uygur hasn't acknowledged ALL of his mistakes. He still has to address his advocacy of beastiality.

[Cha]

49. Right.. that's just Ro being

dismissive.. ain't gonna happen.

[Wawannabe]

12. Yes yes yes!

And I am seething!

[Progressive dog]

16. If I were cynical enough,

I would think that the choices to hire those people were deliberate. It's more likely that Sander's campaign isn't doing sufficient vetting of staffers.

[NYMinute]

37. of course the hires were deliberate nt

[mcar]

17. Someone sure isn't learning from his mistakes

[redgreenandblue]

19. Sanders also fired the first black police chief after his colleagues spread racist mesages around.

Oh wait, that wasn't him...

[BannonsLiver]

23. That's a grade A whataboutism

[Cha]

21. BS campaign knew about cenk's lewd serial

misogynist past.

Link to tweet

[BannonsLiver]

24. Only the best people.

[sheshe2]

30. I am getting dizzy.

[NurseJackie]

31. Excellent gif!

[sheshe2]

32. Thanks!

[cwydro]

42. Lol!

I get tired of the endless gifs here, but that one made me literally laugh out loud.

And well deployed!

[sheshe2]

43. I never tire of Gifs.

They make me laugh on days I just want to cry.

Thanks!

[comradebillyboy]

26. Is there a pattern here?

[sheshe2]

33. Yes.

[Autumn]

34. The pattern I see is that just like with Joy Ried's homophobic comment people are discovering

comments that are made in the day of the internet will come back to bite them. What matters is how it's handled when they come out.

[tishaLA]

35. The dilemma, as the LA Times points out today,

Is that the comments have continued at least into 2017, so he didn't stop making gross, sexist comments in the early 2000s when he was a young whipper snapper in his

<checks notes>

Late 20s to mid-30s.

[sheshe2]

44. Ten years ago.

Cenk continued into 2016.

I may have missed it, did a Presidential candidate endorse Joy Reid for congress recently and then walk it back?

[Autumn]

50. Bernie rescinded his endorsement. AFAIC that makes it a moot point, YHMMV.

[SidDithers]

57. Just like the hirings of Darius Khalil Gordon and Matt Orfalea...

they were fired right away, so we can just pretend that the hirings never happened.

See? Moot point.

Sid

[Autumn]

58. No pretense needed. Are they still working for him? No. See... Moot point

[NYMinute]

36. The horse is out of the barn

It hurt both Cenk and BS by giving a national spotlight to Cenk's behavior and lots and lots of media attention

[LongtimeAZDem]

41. Just keep the horse away from Uygur, for god's sake

[NYMinute]

45. Point well taken

[Blue_true]

47. You win the day. nt

[OldRed2450]

53. Ha!

[cwydro]

39. What kind of staff does he have that allows this crap?

It’s bizarre.

[Blue_true]

48. Looks like the endorsement was deliberate.

His campaign co-chair knew about some of the problems with Cenk and blew them off.

[scheming daemons]

52. Bull. Sanders knew all about Cenk before the endorsement.

This is revisionist history.


Sanders retracted his endorsement because of the blow back.

[Cha]

59. EXACTLY! I hate Revisionist History.

BS got BACKLASH.. that's why he withdrew his endorsement.

[The Valley Below]

54. His own campaign staff unionized to protect themselves (and especially women)

from widespread sexual harassment from "management" and from widespread gender-based pay inequality.

I'd like to see this all as being part of a pattern, but...

[TidalWave46]

55. The thing with Cenk.

The most basic of google searches brings it all up.

The vetting process stops with google when it comes to Cenk.

[SidDithers]

56. When someone shows you who they are, believe them...nt

Sid