Zohran Mamdani, Establishment Democrats, and Israel & Palestine

I first interacted with then Republican Congressman Joe Walsh more than a decade ago when he represented the 8th Congressional District in Illinois. We butted heads because of remarks he’d made about American Muslims. Over the years Joe has gone on an admirable journey, and he’ll be the first to admit his past views were wrong and unacceptable. He and I have built a friendship based—not on agreement on every major issue—but on mutual respect and a desire to want to do better. This conversation is a part of that process. Let’s Address This.

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Two months ago Joe announced that he is changing his party affiliation from Republican to the Democratic Party. In this dialogue, we discuss three major issues, one we strongly agree over, one we mostly agree about, and one we vehemently disagree about and have committed to continue dialoguing about in the future.

* We discussed Zohran Mamdani, and the need for Establishment Democrats to support him and ensure he wins the NYC Mayoral election this November.

* We discussed what the Democratic Party needs to do to prove to voters that it actually is the party of working people—not just the party that is anti-Trump.

* Finally, we spent the lions share of our time discussing Israel and Palestine. I have been clear that what we are witnessing is genocide. Joe disagrees. Joe claims that Palestinians have rejected legitimate offers at statehood. I disagree. We both agree, however, that Netanyahu must go, and that we must exert international pressure to stop the starvation of children and civilians in Gaza, immediately.

We will revisit this conversation because we choose to, and we hope to continue to advance a political discourse based on humanity and human rights. It won’t always be perfect, but that isn’t the point. I hope you take a moment to watch this dialogue, share your comments, and subscribe to help ensure we can continue to advance the fight for universal human rights.

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