Sanders endorses misogynist Cenk Uygur, then thinks better of it

Cenk Uygur is a candidate for Congress in California. He is seeking the seat formerly occupied by Kate Hill. In a sense, he would be a worthy successor to Hill. Like Hill, he would be a disgrace.

Until yesterday, Uygur had Bernie Sanders’s endorsement. This is the story of how he lost it. But first, some background.

Uygur runs a left-wing online news and commentary show called “The Young Turks.” He’s best known to non-leftists for his reaction on election night to Donald Trump’s victory over Hillary Clinton.

John and I clashed with Uygur years ago on an AOL blog in which Power Line, the Young Turks, and others participated. Uygur suffered from a serious case of Bush derangement syndrome. He posted one rubbish rant after another, many of which featured ad hominem attacks and distortion of the facts.

We called him on this from time to time. He didn’t like it. Politico reported the highlight of our feud as follows:

A post [by Paul Mirengoff] generally defending the Bush administration’s handling of the war on terror, even though Osama bin Laden ha[d] not been captured, earned a response post from Uygur with the headline “Paul Mirengoff Celebrates Osama’s Freedom.”

Sadly, this was typical of Uygur’s work.

Some of Uygur’s posts contained gratuitous references to sex. I was among the least surprised people in America when news of his vile, misogynist writing emerged.

According to Washington Post, Uygur once claimed that “the genes of women are flawed” and that women are “poorly designed creatures who do not want to have sex nearly as often as needed for the human race to get along peaceably and fruitfully.” Other comments were more graphic.

Nor did Uygur change much with the times. According to the Post, as recently as 2013, he posted crass commentary on Twitter about women’s bodies.

Notwithstanding Uygur’s misogyny, and the fact that he’s a sick puppy, Bernie Sanders decided to endorse him. The Vermont socialist said:

I know he will serve ordinary people, not powerful special interests. He is a voice that we desperately need in Congress.

Many Democrats, including left-wing activists, were appalled that Sanders would endorse a blatant sexist like Uygur. This was a typical reaction:

I am tired of misogyny on the left. . .I am tired of being told “progressive values” mean we have to overlook misogyny on the left. I am tired of gender equality apparently not being a “progressive value.”

After a while, Sanders had heard enough. In an unusual move for a man who prides himself in not backing down, his team issued a statement withdrawing the endorsement.

Hours before Sanders pulled his endorsement, Uygur, in a defensive move, had announced that he is no longer accepting endorsements. Pathetic.

With Nancy Pelosi endorsing a different candidate and with Uygur’s sexism exposed, one would think he’s headed for defeat. But with Democrats these days, you never know.

If elected, Uygur presumably would try to align himself with the four female members of the squad (assuming they are reelected). I’d be interested in seeing whether the likes of Ilhan Omar and Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez would embrace, or have much to do with, a misogynist pig like Cenk Uygur.  

In the end, Bernie Sanders wisely chose not to.

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