Sanders staffer forced out over alleged antisemitic, homophobic tweets
"He is no longer with the campaign and we wish him the best," Mike Casca, a campaign spokesman, told CNN.
By RACHEL WOLFDemocratic Presidential candidate U.S. Senator Bernie Sanders (D-VT)(photo credit: REUTERS/MARK MAKELA)The Washington Free Beacon revealed antisemitic and homophobic tweets it claimed Darius Khalil Gordon, a Bernie Sanders campaign staffer, posted."He is no longer with the campaign, and we wish him the best," Mike Casca, a campaign spokesman, told CNN.On Wednesday, Gordon announced that he was hired to work as the campaign's deputy directory of constituency organizing, CNN reported.In 2011, Gordon tweeted, "I got a black mans body, white mans power, jew man money, and an asian man life span..lol," according to The Washington Free Beacon, which claimed that Gordon deleted a number tweets that contained antisemitic language after a request for comment.Multiple tweets reference "Jew money," contain disparaging remarks about homosexuals and use a homophobic slur.The Sanders campaign has also garnered criticism over the candidate's appointment of Linda Sarsour as his campaign surrogate.The Democratic Majority for Israel released a statement regarding "Sanders's refusal to call out antisemitism" following Sarsour's statement that Israel is "built on the idea" of Jewish supremacy."In fact, Israel is built on the idea that every people, including the Jewish people, is entitled to self-determination," the organization wrote.Democratic Majority for Israel says it "made Senator Sanders aware" of Sarsour's anti-Israel comments, adding that it "privately urged him to publicly reject her comments yesterday but received no response and saw no action.”"Darius Khalil Gordon’s tweets traffic in a base, antisemitic slur. It is outrageous that Bernie Sanders would hire him, given Gordon’s history of posting blatantly antisemitic comments on social media," Matt Brooks, president of the Republican Jewish Coalition (RJC), wrote in a statement on the RJC's website."Sanders’ campaign already has an image problem in the Jewish community, after he proposed withholding military aid to Israel and appointed Linda Sarsour as a campaign surrogate. This latest incident just confirms that Sanders’ problems run deep."Representatives Rashida Tlaib and Ilhan Omar, both of whom face accusations of antisemitism, are also avid supporters of the Vermont senator's presidential campaign.Gordon's Twitter account is no longer active.
