Bernie Sanders Retracts Endorsement of Cenk Uygur After Criticism – The New York Times, The New York Times
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Mr. Sanders had said Mr. Uygur was “a voice we desperately need in Congress.” But many Democrats condemned the endorsement, citing Mr. Uygur’s history of offensive comments.
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Cenk Uygur is running to fill the seat vacated by former Representative Katie Hill in California’s th Congressional District. (Credit ******)Christian Monterrosa / Sipa, via Associated Press
LOS ANGELES – Can an endorsement be put back in the bottle?On Thursday, Senator Bernie Sanders of Vermont endorsed Cenk Uygur, a progressive talk show host running for a California congressional seat who has a history of making offensivecomments about women, Jews, Muslims and other groups. But he withdrew the endorsement a day later, after facing significant backlash for his decision, and after Mr. Uygur made an announcement of his own: He was no longer accepting recommendations of any kind.Going forward from today I will not accept recommendations, so it means Bernie Sanders has not endorsed me, ”Mr. Uygur said, adding that he did not “want to damage” his potential backers.
The backing from Mr. Sanders, a leading candidate for the Democratic presidential nomination, came in what has already proved to be a heated battle in the race to replace former representative Katie Hill, who stepped down earlier this year.
Sanders had called Mr. Uygur, the founder and co-host of the online talk show “The Young Turks,” “a voice we desperately need in Congress” in a statement on Thursday.
“I know he will serve ordinary people, not powerful special interests,” Mr. Sanders said then.
But by Friday afternoon, he had reconsidered.Our movement is bigger than any one person, ”he said. “I hear my grass roots supporters who were frustrated and understand their concerns. Cenk today said he is rejecting all recommendations for his campaign, and I retract my endorsement. ”Mr. Uygur, who lives outside the district, is running against Christy Smith, a state assemblywoman who has represented the area for years. Ms. Smith has received the backing of many prominent Democrats in the state, including the House speaker, Nancy Pelosi. Her campaign has called attention to Mr. Uygur’s long history of crude comments, many of which are being regularly reposted by her supporters., Mr. Uygur was forced out of the group Justice Democrats, a group he co-founded that backs progressive congressional candidates around the country, after his old blog posts objectifying women came to light.Uygur’s long history of comments about women included ranking them on a scale of 1 to 12, based on how likely men would be to have them perform oral sex. He also defended a similar ranking by Harvard’s men’s soccer team, which was widely condemned at the time.
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