On Monday’s broadcast of “CNN News Central,” Rep. Debbie Wasserman Schultz (D-FL) stated that she’s pleased that Democratic U.S. Senate nominee Abdul El-Sayed “began the trip towards making amends, but he’s got a lot more work to do” for his prior comments. And “any candidate that refuses to disavow, step back from any kind of bigotry is really — like I said, has a lot of work to do and may never get there.” Though she later said that there is “no welcome mat” for bigots in the party and that’s a position the party is unified on.
Co-host Kate Bolduan asked, “Look, even in your former role as a former chair of the DNC, you know that there are a wide range of views within the Democratic Party, and have been for a long time. But when you — this is absolutely part of the conversation that we’ve seen in many races in the Democratic primaries to this point. In Michigan, this became a central tension point in the Senate race, with Abdul El-Sayed winning that primary, as was mentioned as I came into this segment. He, speaking to a group of Jewish Democrats this weekend, apologized for past comments that he made. Very — saying that it was a mistake that he said that after that horrific attack on the synagogue. What do you think of his apology?”
Wasserman Schultz answered, “Well, I’m certainly glad that he began the trip towards making amends, but he’s got a lot more work to do. What is important here, though, again, my colleague, Rep. Chris Pappas (D-NH) said this yesterday, I agree with him, there is widespread unity across our party, across our caucus. We’re the most unified caucus in the House of Representatives that we’ve seen in many years. There are always disagreements, but the candidates that are running on the Democratic ticket across the country are singularly focused on bringing down people’s housing, healthcare, gas, utilities, and food costs. And that’s where the rubber meets the road with voters. It is incredibly important that we fight bigotry and antisemitism. And any candidate that refuses to disavow, step back from any kind of bigotry is really — like I said, has a lot of work to do and may never get there. But the bottom line is that we have more that unifies us in the Democratic Party than divides us. This has been ongoing across the philosophical spectrum in our party for a decade, if not more.”
Wasserman Schultz continued, “Take a look at the MAGA extremism on the Republican side. They have white nationalists that they embrace. They refused to — they refuse to disavow the more than 100 members of Congress who actually voted to overturn a legitimate election, when they voted in 2020. This is just a party that has gone off the rails of extremism. And the voters are showing, all across the country, in special elections, that, even in the most Republican seats, where Donald Trump won by upwards of 20 points in some places, the Democratic nominee wins those elections, because they want us vote — voters want us focused on making life more affordable for them.”
Wasserman Schultz added that “Hasan Piker is a stone-cold antisemite…there is no welcome mat for antisemites and bigots in the Democratic Party. And I know we’re unified across the board on that, and voters have proven that.”
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