Flip-Flop: Bernie Sanders Endorses Misogynistic Pig, Then Retracts Endorsement
[guest post by Dana]
Whenever I write about politicians with gross attitudes toward women and their happy willingness to objectify them in the most demeaning of ways, Trump always comes to mind because he is the biggest reminder that a disturbingly huge swath of Americans don’t really care about the character or moral clarity of those elected to lead. And now we have Democratic candidate Bernie Sanders demonstrating a similar who cares attitude as he endorses a well-known misogynistic sleazebag:
Bernie Sanders endorsed a California congressional candidate Thursday with a long history of making crude and degrading comments about women and provocative statements about Jews, Muslims and other groups.
The Democratic presidential candidate said Cenk Uygur, founder and co-host of “The Young Turks” online talk show, is “a voice that we desperately need in Congress” to fill the seat of former Rep. Katie Hill of Santa Clarita.
In one episode in 2013, Uygur ranked women on a scale of 1 to 10 on how likely men would be to let them perform oral sex on them.
Uygur also defended the Harvard University men’s soccer team in 2016 for ranking the sexual appeal of female students on a scale of 1 to 10 on a widely shared “scouting report,” including explicit descriptions of potential sex acts with the women.
“We’ve been doing it for as long as humanity has existed, so they put it in a Google doc — not guilty,” said Uygur, who has promoted Sanders on his program.
In 2007, Uygur used the n-word multiple times in a show about Duane “Dog” Chapman after the celebrity bounty hunter used the racial slur.
Charming guy. So, if Sanders thinks this is the “voice that [Democrats] desperately need in Congress,” then that is quite an insight into Bernie Sanders and his willingness to overlook disgusting behavior because the end justifies the means, or perhaps because sexism and the harassment of women is just a continuing part of his campaign. I don’t know. Clearly any candidate running for the presidency is not going to give his his imprimatur to just anyone. The candidate will have obviously been fully vetted and researched before an endorsement is given. Also, Uygur is not some unknown, new kid on the block. His misogynistic sleaze has been very thoroughly documented.
Reminiscent of another middle-aged Democrat trying to avoid taking full responsibility for his actions, Uygur blames conservatism for his foul behavior:
“The stuff I wrote back then was really insensitive and ignorant,” Uygur said. “If you read that today, what I wrote 18 years ago, and you’re offended by it, you’re 100 percent right. And anyone who is subjected to that material, I apologize to. And I deeply regret having written that stuff when I was a different guy.”
Uygur also noted that at the time, he “was still a conservative who thought that stuff was politically incorrect and edgy.
OK, got it: a part of conservative orthodoxy is that right-leaning men not only want to be edgy, but think that being “edgy” means making disgusting comments like those that Uygur has made:
An entry from 2000 complaining about his lack of sex declared that “the genes of women are flawed” because they “do not want to have sex nearly as often as needed for the human race to get along peaceably and fruitfully.”
Another entry titled, “Rules of Dating,” said he would break up with a woman if he hadn’t felt her “tits” by the fourth date, and that “there must be orgasm by the fifth date.”
Anyway, not all Democrats are on board with Bernie endorsing Uygur:
Will Rodriguez-Kennedy, president of California Young Democrats, a group that backs Sanders, had called on the Vermont senator to withdraw his endorsement of Uygur.
“We think that he doesn’t necessarily reflect the movement that Sen. Sanders has built,” he said.
Mark Gonzalez, chairman of the Los Angeles County Democratic Party, had also called on Sanders to “disavow” Uygur and pull his endorsement. Uygur’s “vulgarity, his hate speech and divisive rhetoric have no place in our party,” Gonzalez said…
UPDATE:
.@cenkuygur has been a longtime fighter against corruption. However, our movement is bigger than any one person. I hear my supporters who were frustrated and understand their concerns. Cenk today said he is rejecting all endorsements for his campaign and I retract my endorsement.
— Bernie Sanders (@BernieSanders) December 13, 2019
What a load of bullshit. What a weaselly way for two weaselly men to wiggle out of a tangled web of their own making. As if Sanders or anyone on his team didn’t already know about Uygur’s misogyny. Just google “Cenk Uygur” and all his nastiness is there for anyone to see. Note, too, that Sanders doesn’t even mention Uygur’s misogyny in his tweet. As if the very thing that the complaints were focused on doesn’t exist.
Elizabeth Warren, opportunity is knocking loudly at your door…
–Dana
The irony that the vacated seat of Katie Hill, whose inappropriate relationship with a staff member did her in, might be filled with someone like Cenk Uygur is just so California. Heh.
Dana (643cd6) — 12/13/2019 @ 2:12 pmThis is the guy who waffled a lot about whether Armenian genocide happened, right?
I don’t think normal, kinds, and honest people get the clicks these days.
Dustin (cafb36) — 12/13/2019 @ 2:17 pmI want to hear about how Sanders and Uygur being unwavering defenders of womenm like all good Democrats.
Dana (643cd6) — 12/13/2019 @ 2:19 pmDustin,
This was such a no-brainer-don’t-endorse-this-clown moment, that it’s hard to understand why Sanders would have done so. Hill’s district clearly isn’t in any danger of going red, not with it having turned (and all the misleading Hill is a martyr for feminism propaganda). And the likely shoe-in for her seat is Christy Smith, who Pelosi has endorsed. What a gigantic misstep on Sanders’ part, and what a great opening for Warren.
Dana (643cd6) — 12/13/2019 @ 2:23 pm2. I think Cenk is Turkish, isn’t he? That’s all you need to know by way of explanation as far as how he could deny something so obvious. I’m not going to go so far as to say his Turkish blood makes the misogyny a given, but… SMDH
Gryph (08c844) — 12/13/2019 @ 2:24 pmThis race is a real rogues’ gallery:
Dave (1bb933) — 12/13/2019 @ 2:26 pmWhen Bernard Sanders was Cenk Uygur’s age wasn’t he writing weird rape fantasies about women? Sounds like birds of a feather.
JVW (54fd0b) — 12/13/2019 @ 2:41 pmCenk has so much in common with never trump
mg (8f83ac) — 12/13/2019 @ 2:43 pmDave: California, am I right?!
JVW: Ugh, you’re not wrong.
mg: What was it you meant to say?
Dana (643cd6) — 12/13/2019 @ 2:59 pmYou’re really going to have to explain this comment…
Dana (643cd6) — 12/13/2019 @ 3:04 pmnever trump is never trump
mg (8f83ac) — 12/13/2019 @ 3:14 pmcenk is never trump
those people are all the same to me
I’m betting Hunter Biden names his new kid Noah Malarky Biden
mg (8f83ac) — 12/13/2019 @ 3:15 pm11. I think that rates a great big GFY, mg.
Gryph (08c844) — 12/13/2019 @ 3:21 pmright back at you never trumper
mg (8f83ac) — 12/13/2019 @ 3:43 pmSpoken like a true Democrat leader: “Since he refuses my endorsement, I take it back”.
MJN1957 (85ea38) — 12/13/2019 @ 4:30 pmThis is what Trump loyalty looks like: a belief that we can never criticize Trump, and that there is no difference between someone like Cenk Uygur and myself. You know, a while back I pointed out that when Trump loyalists become defensive, they’ll do anything to cover for his multitude of sins and then throw out the pejorative “Never Trump” accusation with a sneer, instead of engaging in direct dialogue. mg reinforces my beliefs.
Dana (643cd6) — 12/13/2019 @ 4:38 pmSo the Dems are running a vulgar misogynist who objectifies women, and the GOP is running a Greek (and as if that wasn’t bad enough, he’s also a convicted felon and Russian stooge).
Will Trump endorse Papadopoulos? In March 2016, he told the Washington Post editorial board that Papadopoulos, who he had named as one of his five foreign policy advisors, was “an excellent guy”. But by October 2017, true to form, he had become an unperson:
Dave (1bb933) — 12/13/2019 @ 4:58 pmThis was such a no-brainer-don’t-endorse-this-clown moment, that it’s hard to understand why Sanders would have done so
I think the Young Turks set is avowedly proBernie in preference to anyone other member of the Democratic Circus, which would be enough for Bernie to endorse him.
altera est manus manum lavat
Kishnevi (1f8073) — 12/13/2019 @ 5:05 pmDana, that’s right. Like Aphrael said, we really are several steps down the path to tyranny. Every veteran who died for our freedom, every thought given to our civil rights by our founders, and every concept of good will toward ‘we the people’ instead of ‘they the rulers’ is jeopardized by this need to shut down criticism of Trump.
He’s just a politician and it’s not worth it. Bernie is a joke too. It’s possible, and in fact very reasonable, to have contempt for all of these losers and both sides.
Dustin (cafb36) — 12/13/2019 @ 5:09 pmWhat most Americans have enjoyed for most of their lives is not the normal human condition. Something a lot worse is normal. We got soft and took it for granted. The internet was supposedly going to break media bias by making information easy to share, but in reality it made lies easy to share.
Dustin (cafb36) — 12/13/2019 @ 5:19 pmApologies to all of you, I have been out of line.
mg (8f83ac) — 12/13/2019 @ 5:23 pmHope you and your families have a very merry christmas. And a blessed new year.
Thank you, mg. And good holy days to you.
Kishnevi (1f8073) — 12/13/2019 @ 5:31 pmOff-topic: Kentucky’s outgoing governor pardons hundreds of people including convicted rapists, murderers and drug offenders
The family of one of the murderers pardoned, Patrick Brian Baker, raised $21,500 last year to retire debt from the governor’s 2015 campaign, and donated $4,000 to his unsuccessful campaign this time around.
He also pardoned a 41 year-old convicted of raping a 9 year-old child last year.
And he pardoned Dayton Ross Jones, who pleaded guilty to the 2014 sexual assault on a 15 year-old boy. The assault was captured on video and posted on social media. The case was prosecuted by the office of the incoming governor, when he was Kentucky attorney general. No explanation for this pardon was provided.
Dave (1bb933) — 12/13/2019 @ 5:41 pmSame to you mg! I hope you have a truly awesome Christmas.
Dustin (cafb36) — 12/13/2019 @ 5:46 pmWill those pardons allow the pardoned to avoid registering as sex offenders?
Maybe he wants to make sure the GOP can claim the crime rate has gone up under the Democratic governor once these people go back to doing whatever they were doing before…
Kishnevi (1f8073) — 12/13/2019 @ 5:47 pm17, as the Colonel would say, never mind… 2 swarthy dudes.
urbanleftbehind (f9b1e5) — 12/13/2019 @ 5:49 pmOh thanks, mg. That’s much appreciated. Merry Christmas to you and yours as well.
Dana (643cd6) — 12/13/2019 @ 6:11 pmI think the whole lot of the presidential candidates are getting cold feet:
http://www.usatoday.com/story/news/politics/elections/2019/12/13/december-debate-biden-sanders-warren-may-skip-debate-over-union-conflict/2640399001/
But then again…
urbanleftbehind (f9b1e5) — 12/13/2019 @ 7:55 pmhttp://nymag.com/intelligencer/2019/12/trump-may-skip-2020-debates-concerned-about-moderators.html
16. It may not legally be actionable, but I’d say being compared to Cenk just because I don’t like Trump is a shade beyond slanderous. This is the last of it I’ll mention, but I’m not so quick to just let it go. -.-
Gryph (08c844) — 12/13/2019 @ 9:10 pm23. And in the “not a dime’s worth of difference between the two major parties” department, I think it’s worth pointing out that Matt Bevin is a Republican.
Gryph (08c844) — 12/13/2019 @ 9:12 pmYou were. And you ought to re-think your bizarre beliefs about conservatives who happen to be Trump critics. That said, thank you for apologizing and Merry Christmas to you.
Patterico (115b1f) — 12/13/2019 @ 10:29 pmKudos to mg for the classy apology. We have some heated arguments here and sometimes they regrettably delve into the personal. I always feel a sense of regret with respect to my sins in that regard.
JVW (54fd0b) — 12/13/2019 @ 10:49 pmCenk uygur would be better then most of the scum they have got in their now!
asset (7537d5) — 12/14/2019 @ 12:11 amAnother Kentucky pardon: a man convicted of beheading a woman and stuffing her in a barrel
Dave (1bb933) — 12/14/2019 @ 3:20 amI thought you and Matt Bevin were simpatico, Dave. “Gimme a pot party with hookers, and any way I can to make a buck” Road-To-Serfdomers. What’s really bugging you? Were these scags in private, for-profit prisons, or something?
nk (dbc370) — 12/14/2019 @ 5:22 amNope, Bevin’s raising an Army, same as pardoning members of elite military units and bringing them along as muscle.
urbanleftbehind (cf49c9) — 12/14/2019 @ 8:55 amBeing “simpatico” with someone doesn’t prevent me from criticizing them when they @#$% up, nk.
I’m kinda weird like that.
Dave (1bb933) — 12/14/2019 @ 9:08 amI think somebody is trying to get the debate this coming Thursday cancelled.
I base that on the fact that the same thing happened twice (that’s hard to be a coincidence)
https://www.npr.org/2019/12/13/787870834/top-2020-candidates-threaten-to-skip-upcoming-democratic-debate-amid-labor-dispu
The first venue got moved because of labor dispute.
Now the second one has a labor dispute, which the DNC did not know about when it chaned the venue.
Then a union says it will picket the hall.
Elizabeth Warren was the first out of the box to say she would not cross a picket line. Followed by Bernie Sanders and then all the rest. I wonder if the reason she was so fast to react because she had a heads up, if in fact the whole ting wasn’t arranged, including selling the DNC on the second site. But it could be the union(s) are trying to protect someone else.
Sammy Finkelman (1e81da) — 12/15/2019 @ 11:01 amThe American Federation of State, County and Municipal Employees, has, I think, avoided an endorsement. “Unite Here” has endorsed Bernie Sanders.
Sammy Finkelman (1e81da) — 12/15/2019 @ 11:06 am