Sanders backing of controversial candidate spurs backlash

In a statement from Sanders that Uygur posted Thursday on Twitter, the Vermont senator he had decided to support the candidate because “I know he will serve ordinary people, not powerful special interests. He is a voice that we desperately need in Congress.”

Sanders campaign spokesman Mike Casca confirmed the endorsement but declined to address Sanders’s thoughts about Uygur’s past remarks.

The Wrap, an entertainment news website, previously unearthed blog posts Uygur wrote years ago, including one in 2000 that said: “Obviously, the genes of women are flawed. They are poorly designed creatures who do not want to have sex nearly as often as needed for the human race to get along peaceably and fruitfully.”

Other comments were more graphic, and as recently as 2013, Uygur posted crass commentary on Twitter about women’s bodies.

Uygur has gained a following in recent years from his online news and commentary show “The Young Turks.” He often attacks Democrats from the left, arguing they are too timid in standing up to Republicans, an outlook that meshes well with Sanders’s.

“The Young Turks” is popular with many Sanders supporters, and Uygur has featured the senator on his program and covered him favorably. On Thursday, Uygur called Sanders a “legend” and thanked him for his support.

Uygur has apologized for his past comments and said he is a different person now, but many liberal activists remain troubled by them. Justice Democrats, a group Uygur helped found to support liberals running for Congress, ousted him in 2017 when the remarks were disclosed.

Liberals’ criticism resurfaced Friday with news of Sanders’s endorsement. “I understand that one reason is Cenk has been a good soldier and loyal to Sanders, but I’m troubled by the suggestion that they align on the issues,” author and journalist Jill Filipovic wrote on Twitter. “Cenk is a misogynist and an anti-feminist! That should be disqualifying for any claim to being ‘progressive.’ ”

She added: “I am tired of misogyny on the left. I am tired of being told I am imagining misogyny on the left. I am tired of being told ‘progressive values’ mean we have to overlook misogyny on the left. I am tired of gender equality apparently not being a ‘progressive value.’ ”

Uygur is running in the 25th Congressional District in Southern California, a seat that opened up when former Rep. Katie Hill (D) resigned amid an ethics inquiry into allegations that she’d had an intimate relationship with a staff member in her office.

Assemblywoman Christy Smith (D) has jumped into the race for the district north of Los Angeles, receiving the endorsement of House Speaker Nancy Pelosi and other party leaders, as well as liberal groups including Emily’s List.

Several Republicans are also expected to run for the seat, including George Papadopoulos, a former Trump campaign aide who was ensnared in the investigation of Russian electoral interference.

A Pelosi representatives did not immediately respond to requests for comment, but others in the party did not hold back.

“Team Bernie chose to endorse an open misogynist,” tweeted David Atkins, a regional director of the California Democratic Party.

The executive board of the Hollywood Chapter of the National Organization for Women posted a statement calling on Sanders to disavow Uygur and saying the congressional hopeful’s “hateful and sexist rhetoric has no place within the women’s movement or our government.”

The California Women’s List, which supports Democratic female candidates who advocate abortion rights, also voiced dissatisfaction, saying in a statement it is “disappointed in Senator Sanders’s endorsement of Cenk Uygur, a candidate who has repeatedly used misogynistic, racist, and homophobic language. This endorsement appears to go against Senator Sanders’ platform and role as a leader in the progressive movement.”

Sanders traveled Friday to New Hampshire to campaign with Rep. Ilhan Omar (D-Minn.), a member of the “Squad” of liberal congresswomen. Three of the four members of the Squad are supporting Sanders.

Thursday’s endorsement led some Democrats to wonder about Sanders’s broader strategy when it comes to congressional campaign endorsements. Sean McElwee, the co-founder of the liberal group Data for Progress, asked why Sanders had gone in for Uygur while staying quiet about left-wing candidate Jessica Cisneros in her challenge to moderate Rep. Henry Cuellar (D-Tex.).

“What’s baffling to me about this endorsement is that there is a progressive woman taking on the most right-wing corporate Democrat in the House who could use some backup,” McElwee said.