Top Democrat Steve Israel: 'Not all' Republicans are racist


A free piece of advice to the politicians out there: Never, ever insinuate offhandedly that a swath of your opposition is motivated by latent racial animus. Short of ironclad proof — say, footage of your opponents admitting to being gigantic, unabashed racists — the claim sounds accusatory and defensive.
Yet Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee Chairman Rep. Steve Israel (N.Y.) stumbled into that no-no Sunday on CNN's State of the Union.
Host Candy Crowley asked, "Do you think your Republican colleagues are racist?"
The Week
Escape your echo chamber. Get the facts behind the news, plus analysis from multiple perspectives.

Sign up for The Week's Free Newsletters
From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.
From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.
"Not all of them," Israel said. "No, of course not. But to a significant extent, the Republican base does have elements that are motivated by racism."
That is sure to rile up the right, including the very base Israel was pooh-poohing. Remember that many on the right pounced when President Obama said in an interview with The New Yorker earlier this year that, "no doubt that there's some folks who just really dislike me because they don't like the idea of a black president." And that backlash came even though Obama, in the next breath, added that other people gave him "the benefit of the doubt" specifically because he is a black president.
In any event, you can expect a conservative backlash to Israel's comments in three, two, one. --Jon Terbush
A free daily email with the biggest news stories of the day – and the best features from TheWeek.com
Jon Terbush is an associate editor at TheWeek.com covering politics, sports, and other things he finds interesting. He has previously written for Talking Points Memo, Raw Story, and Business Insider.
-
DOGE put Social Security data at risk, official says
Speed Read DOGE workers made the personal information of hundreds of millions of Americans vulnerable to identity theft
-
Court rejects Trump suit against Maryland US judges
Speed Read Judge Thomas Cullen, a Trump appointee, said the executive branch had no authority to sue the judges
-
Trump expands National Guard role in policing
Speed Read The president wants the Guard to take on a larger role in domestic law enforcement
-
Trump says he's firing Federal Reserve Governor Lisa Cook
Speed Read The move is likely part of Trump's push to get the central bank to cut interest rates
-
Abrego released from jail, faces Uganda deportation
Speed Read The wrongly deported Kilmar Abrego García is expected to be detained at an ICE check-in and deported to Uganda
-
Trump arms National Guard in DC, threatens other cities
speed read His next targets are Chicago, New York and Baltimore
-
Judge: Trump's US attorney in NJ serving unlawfully
Speed Read The appointment of Trump's former personal defense lawyer, Alina Habba, as acting US attorney in New Jersey was ruled 'unlawful'
-
Third judge rejects DOJ's Epstein records request
Speed Read Judge Richard Berman was the third and final federal judge to reject DOJ petitions to unseal Epstein-related grand jury material