A North Carolina Democratic progressive caucus leader has come under fire for declaring that allowing a Jewish caucus will “end” the party because “they control everything.”
Ryan Jenkins, who is president of the state party’s progressive branch, targeted the North Carolina Democratic Jewish Caucus after Democrats voted last week against recognizing the group as an affiliated organization, WFAE reported.
“If the Democratic Party gives in, that’s the end of the Democratic Party. We are not Democrats, we are the Jewish Caucus. We are a Zionist group. Because they control everything,” he told the Friday outlet about the vote.
Since the vote, Jenkins claimed Jewish caucus members — whom he described as “rich white people” — had attacked Democrats who had abstained. Seventeen Dems voted no, while there were 16 yes votes and 17 abstentions or abstentions.
“(If we pass the caucus) we’re telling them very clearly that they’re allowed to threaten and bully us and they’re going to get their way every time and our rules don’t apply,” Jenkins said.
Ryan Jenkins, who heads the North Carolina Democratic progressive caucus, targeted the North Carolina Democratic Jewish Caucus last week.PCNCDP
Following the failed vote, several members of the Jewish caucus sent an email to supporters with the subject line “North Carolina Democratic Party to Jews – Die Die!” and said the meeting had been hijacked by what they called anti-Semitism.
“What you see is basically a small group of rich white people who have never been held accountable for anything, who have never faced consequences for anything, throwing a tantrum because they faced consequences for once,” Jenkins said.
“And their only mode is, ‘Oh, you must be antisemitic — because I’ve never done anything wrong.’ “
The head of the Jewish caucus, Jeffrey Bierer, was among those who slammed Jenkins’ remarks as “baseless incendiary remarks.”
“We are deeply disappointed to see this attack from someone we believe should be an ally,” Bierer said. “The Jewish Caucus has begun to fight antisemitism, help fight fascism, and support a two-state solution to the conflict between Israel and Palestine.”
Democrats voted last week against recognizing Jewish groups as affiliated organizations. Seventeen Dems voted no, while there were 16 yes votes and 17 abstentions or absent. CQ-Roll Call, Inc via Getty Images
The state’s Democratic Party also distanced itself from Jenkins’ remarks, saying they are a “big tent party united by our shared values.”
“Despite procedural issues that resulted in many absent votes during this trial, we remain committed to helping the Jewish Caucus achieve recognition under the NCDP,” state party spokesman Tommy Mattocks said. said in a statement.
“We recognize the evil rise of antisemitism and we will continue to listen to the voices of our Jewish brothers, sisters and friends. We stand with them and will fight every day to make sure they feel safe and welcome in North Carolina.”
He added: “Ryan Jenkins does not speak for the party nor do his statements paint an accurate picture of what happened.”
Jenkins did not immediately respond to The Post’s request for comment on his statement.
He delivered a speech over the weekend following the backlash, apologizing to “anyone who misinterpreted (his comments) as playing with antisemitic tropes about secret conspiracies and other racist nonsense.”
“Seeing it in print, I realized that I chose my words poorly and should have been more precise,” he added.
Categories: Trending
Source: thtrangdai.edu.vn/en/
