Ilhan Omar Warns Progressives Escalating Warren-Sanders Disagreement Only Fuels Trump's Attacks on Both Candidates

January 16th 2020

Congresswoman Ilhan Omar (Craig)

By Julia Conley

Common Dreams

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.

Trump wants progressives pitted against each other.

Corporate media want progressives pitted against each other.

Billionaires want progressives pitted against each other.

Pitting progressives against each other weeks before the Iowa Caucus hurts ALL of us.

— Ilhan Omar (@IlhanMN) January 15, 2020

I support Bernie because I believe he is the candidate to end our endless wars, fight bad trade deals and address the climate crisis.

He has inspired countless progressive women to run for office and has had our back when it mattered most.

— Ilhan Omar (@IlhanMN) January 15, 2020

Women can win at every level of office, including the presidency.

I know that Bernie believes that.

— Ilhan Omar (@IlhanMN) January 15, 2020

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."

This is horrific.
Co-founder of @People4Bernie here. Please do NOT support this.#WarrenIsASnake #NeverWarren
It's really not helping, and is the kind of thing that Russian bots and Trump social media might be amplifying.

— Yes to Big Structural Democratic Socialism (@clenchner) January 15, 2020

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."

Let’s not give Trump an arsenal of attacks to use against us.

Bernie Sanders is not a sexist.

Elizabeth Warren is not a snake.

Let’s stay focused on the task ahead: defeating Donald Trump in November and fighting for the America we deserve.

— Ilhan Omar (@IlhanMN) January 15, 2020

Omar's call was echoed by Dr. Jane Sanders, the senator's wife, and Justice Democrats spokesman Waleed Shahid.

The @BernieSanders campaign is about unifying people across our country - not dividing them up by race, ethnicity or gender. Forget those who are trying to divide us, focus on building the progressive movement & be positive to succeed!#MenWomenUnited

— Jane O'Meara Sanders (@janeosanders) January 15, 2020

When your political identity is triggered, everything can start to look like a nail in need of a hammer.

The media’s lust for conflict, the individual personality-driven nature of our politics, and social media fan culture all exacerbates this.

— Waleed Shahid (@_waleedshahid) January 15, 2020

Both a Sanders or Warren presidency would be historic.

Progressives should focus on making a case against Biden and Buttigieg in the coming weeks. Both candidates missed a few shots last night.

People should vote for the eventual nominee.

Be careful of all these bots today.

— Waleed Shahid (@_waleedshahid) January 15, 2020

"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."

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