SUBSCRIBE TO OUR FREE NEWSLETTER
Daily news & progressive opinion—funded by the people, not the corporations—delivered straight to your inbox.
5
#000000
#FFFFFF
5
#000000
#FFFFFF
Rep. Ilhan Omar (D-Minn.) called on supporters of Sens. Elizabeth Warren (D-Mass.) and Bernie Sanders (I-Vt.) to de-escalate tensions between the two camps and focus their efforts on defeating President Donald Trump in 2020. (Photos: Zach Gibson/Getty Images, Lev Radin/Pacific Press/LightRocket/Getty Images, Lori Shaull/Flickr/cc)
Ilhan Omar Warns Progressives Escalating Warren-Sanders Disagreement Only Fuels Trump's Attacks on Both Candidates
"Let's stay focused on the task ahead: defeating Donald Trump in November and fighting for the America we deserve."
Jan 14, 2020
As some online supporters of Sens. Elizabeth Warren and Bernie Sanders appeared intent on escalating a disagreement between the two 2020 Democratic presidential candidates over a private conversation they had in 2018 into a full blown internecine war, Rep. Ilhan Omar urged progressives to resist squabbling as the first primary votes draw near.
Fighting between progressive supporters of Warren and Sanders benefits neither candidate, the first-term Minnesota Democrat and Sanders surrogate suggested on Twitter--and only strengthens the corporate structures which hope to defeat both of them.
"Pitting progressives against each other weeks before the Iowa caucus hurts ALL of us," tweeted Omar.
Omar's comments came less than 24 hours after Tuesday's Democratic debate, where the two senators were asked about Warren's claim that Sanders told her before either of their campaigns began that he did not believe a woman could win the presidency in 2020.
Sanders has denied he made the statement, accusing Warren's staff of "lying" and saying on Tuesday that he only told his colleague "that Donald Trump is a sexist, a racist, and a liar who would weaponize whatever he could."
Warren said ahead of the debate that she wanted to focus on the two senators' "past work together" and "shared goals."
On Wednesday, however, the hashtags #WarrenIsASnake and #NeverWarren were trending, with some prominent progressives positing that fraudulent "bot" accounts were amplifying the slogans.
"This is horrific. Co-founder of People for Bernie here," tweeted Charles Lenchner, who is now a digital director for The Real News. "Please do NOT support this."
The hashtags would only give President Donald Trump "an arsenal of attacks to use against us," Omar tweeted, calling on progressives to "stay focused on the task ahead: defeating Donald Trump in November and fighting for the America we deserve."
Omar's call was echoed by Dr. Jane Sanders, the senator's wife, and Justice Democrats spokesman Waleed Shahid.
"Both a Sanders or Warren presidency would be historic," Shahid tweeted. "Progressives should focus on making a case against [Joe] Biden and [Pete] Buttigieg in the coming weeks. Both candidates missed a few shots last night."
An Urgent Message From Our Co-Founder
Dear Common Dreams reader, It’s been nearly 30 years since I co-founded Common Dreams with my late wife, Lina Newhouser. We had the radical notion that journalism should serve the public good, not corporate profits. It was clear to us from the outset what it would take to build such a project. No paid advertisements. No corporate sponsors. No millionaire publisher telling us what to think or do. Many people said we wouldn't last a year, but we proved those doubters wrong. Together with a tremendous team of journalists and dedicated staff, we built an independent media outlet free from the constraints of profits and corporate control. Our mission has always been simple: To inform. To inspire. To ignite change for the common good. Building Common Dreams was not easy. Our survival was never guaranteed. When you take on the most powerful forces—Wall Street greed, fossil fuel industry destruction, Big Tech lobbyists, and uber-rich oligarchs who have spent billions upon billions rigging the economy and democracy in their favor—the only bulwark you have is supporters who believe in your work. But here’s the urgent message from me today. It's never been this bad out there. And it's never been this hard to keep us going. At the very moment Common Dreams is most needed, the threats we face are intensifying. We need your support now more than ever. We don't accept corporate advertising and never will. We don't have a paywall because we don't think people should be blocked from critical news based on their ability to pay. Everything we do is funded by the donations of readers like you. When everyone does the little they can afford, we are strong. But if that support retreats or dries up, so do we. Will you donate now to make sure Common Dreams not only survives but thrives? —Craig Brown, Co-founder |
Our work is licensed under Creative Commons (CC BY-NC-ND 3.0). Feel free to republish and share widely.
As some online supporters of Sens. Elizabeth Warren and Bernie Sanders appeared intent on escalating a disagreement between the two 2020 Democratic presidential candidates over a private conversation they had in 2018 into a full blown internecine war, Rep. Ilhan Omar urged progressives to resist squabbling as the first primary votes draw near.
Fighting between progressive supporters of Warren and Sanders benefits neither candidate, the first-term Minnesota Democrat and Sanders surrogate suggested on Twitter--and only strengthens the corporate structures which hope to defeat both of them.
"Pitting progressives against each other weeks before the Iowa caucus hurts ALL of us," tweeted Omar.
Omar's comments came less than 24 hours after Tuesday's Democratic debate, where the two senators were asked about Warren's claim that Sanders told her before either of their campaigns began that he did not believe a woman could win the presidency in 2020.
Sanders has denied he made the statement, accusing Warren's staff of "lying" and saying on Tuesday that he only told his colleague "that Donald Trump is a sexist, a racist, and a liar who would weaponize whatever he could."
Warren said ahead of the debate that she wanted to focus on the two senators' "past work together" and "shared goals."
On Wednesday, however, the hashtags #WarrenIsASnake and #NeverWarren were trending, with some prominent progressives positing that fraudulent "bot" accounts were amplifying the slogans.
"This is horrific. Co-founder of People for Bernie here," tweeted Charles Lenchner, who is now a digital director for The Real News. "Please do NOT support this."
The hashtags would only give President Donald Trump "an arsenal of attacks to use against us," Omar tweeted, calling on progressives to "stay focused on the task ahead: defeating Donald Trump in November and fighting for the America we deserve."
Omar's call was echoed by Dr. Jane Sanders, the senator's wife, and Justice Democrats spokesman Waleed Shahid.
"Both a Sanders or Warren presidency would be historic," Shahid tweeted. "Progressives should focus on making a case against [Joe] Biden and [Pete] Buttigieg in the coming weeks. Both candidates missed a few shots last night."
As some online supporters of Sens. Elizabeth Warren and Bernie Sanders appeared intent on escalating a disagreement between the two 2020 Democratic presidential candidates over a private conversation they had in 2018 into a full blown internecine war, Rep. Ilhan Omar urged progressives to resist squabbling as the first primary votes draw near.
Fighting between progressive supporters of Warren and Sanders benefits neither candidate, the first-term Minnesota Democrat and Sanders surrogate suggested on Twitter--and only strengthens the corporate structures which hope to defeat both of them.
"Pitting progressives against each other weeks before the Iowa caucus hurts ALL of us," tweeted Omar.
Omar's comments came less than 24 hours after Tuesday's Democratic debate, where the two senators were asked about Warren's claim that Sanders told her before either of their campaigns began that he did not believe a woman could win the presidency in 2020.
Sanders has denied he made the statement, accusing Warren's staff of "lying" and saying on Tuesday that he only told his colleague "that Donald Trump is a sexist, a racist, and a liar who would weaponize whatever he could."
Warren said ahead of the debate that she wanted to focus on the two senators' "past work together" and "shared goals."
On Wednesday, however, the hashtags #WarrenIsASnake and #NeverWarren were trending, with some prominent progressives positing that fraudulent "bot" accounts were amplifying the slogans.
"This is horrific. Co-founder of People for Bernie here," tweeted Charles Lenchner, who is now a digital director for The Real News. "Please do NOT support this."
The hashtags would only give President Donald Trump "an arsenal of attacks to use against us," Omar tweeted, calling on progressives to "stay focused on the task ahead: defeating Donald Trump in November and fighting for the America we deserve."
Omar's call was echoed by Dr. Jane Sanders, the senator's wife, and Justice Democrats spokesman Waleed Shahid.
"Both a Sanders or Warren presidency would be historic," Shahid tweeted. "Progressives should focus on making a case against [Joe] Biden and [Pete] Buttigieg in the coming weeks. Both candidates missed a few shots last night."
We've had enough. The 1% own and operate the corporate media. They are doing everything they can to defend the status quo, squash dissent and protect the wealthy and the powerful. The Common Dreams media model is different. We cover the news that matters to the 99%. Our mission? To inform. To inspire. To ignite change for the common good. How? Nonprofit. Independent. Reader-supported. Free to read. Free to republish. Free to share. With no advertising. No paywalls. No selling of your data. Thousands of small donations fund our newsroom and allow us to continue publishing. Can you chip in? We can't do it without you. Thank you.