As Democratic Socialists run on defunding the police and abolishing prisons, socialist backers who are already in office, Senator Bernie Sanders and Rep. Ilhan Omar, are now trying to distance themselves and deny that their radical platforms are “serious.”
Sanders claimed during a recent interview that “no serious person” running for office actually believes in defunding the police. Omar went on to agree with Sanders in a CNN interview last night.
However, Socialist Wisconsin State Rep. Francesca Hong, who is endorsed by Ilhan Omar and is the clear frontrunner in her state’s gubernatorial primary, has openly called to “defund the police,” calling law enforcement “state-sanctioned violence.” She is the Democrats’ most serious contender for governor of Wisconsin.
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When asked about the DSA’s growing influence in the Democratic Party and candidates’ calls for defunding the police and abolishing prisons, Sanders denied that they want to defund the police, blaming right-wing propaganda for the narrative.
“You know as well as I do that the right wing, that’s their job, right? They will take what one person said and put, you know, 80 billion dollars of TV ads on it and make it claim every Democrat supports that,” he said. “No serious person that I know, who is running for office, believes in quote unquote defunding the police.”
Sanders went on to highlight so-called “racism within police departments” and jobs he believes social workers should handle instead of cops, adding, “but nobody I know, you know, believes in defunding the police.”
He further denied that the DSA actually wants to follow through on their stated goals of abolishing prisons and opening the borders with amnesty for all illegals. “A lot of this stuff, as you well know, is what the right-wing plays on and multiplies on Fox, you know, 10 times a day, and through their heads, but most of the serious candidates that I know and support do not support those things,” he said.
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The DSA’s Workers Deserve More platform, however, reads, “Demilitarize police departments, disempower police unions, and redirect funding to public services as steps towards fully abolishing the police and prison system which protects the rich and jails the poor.” Additionally, all of the DSA’s candidates in the general election have espoused the idea of abolishing Immigration enforcement agencies and granting amnesty to illegal aliens.
CNN’s Kaitlan Collins asked Socialist Rep. Ilhan Omar if she agrees with Sanders statements, noting that “there are some candidates that are running right now that have previously called for defunding the police.”
But Omar, who has called for the police to be defunded, avoided the question and claimed that the messaging around police reform has just gotten “lost in in the void.”
She added, “We still have a long way to go, and I think that is sort of what Bernie was speaking to. People essentially do want safer communities. People want the issues that exist with certain police departments, like the Minneapolis Police Department, to be addressed, and people want to have trust in those that seek to serve and protect them.”
Asked again if she thinks Bernie’s statements are true, she responded, “I think he’s talking about someone putting forth a piece of legislation, and to that regard, I would say that he is right.”
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