Dear Ms. O’Malley Dillion (Campaign Manager Joe Biden for President),
We are very concerned by the statement that Andrew Bates, Director of Rapid Response of the Biden campaign, recently gave to CNN’s Jake Tapper. In a series of tweets that both Mr. Bates and Mr. Tapper posted online, Mr. Bates stated that “Joe Biden…condemns [Linda Sarsour’s] views and that she has no role in the Biden campaign whatsoever.”
The event was a DNC Muslim and Allies Assembly, whereby the campaign had no involvement in selecting the speakers. Ms. Sarsour is a Democratic delegate and a popular and effective organizer of many progressives, including Muslim Americans. In our view, the campaign should have pointed that this was a DNC event and not gone out of its way to castigate Ms. Sarsour and in the process, many of the party’s important supporters that live in battleground states such as Michigan, Florida, and Ohio.
Specifically, Mr. Bates’ statement that Joe Biden “condemns” Sarsour’s views is reckless and hurtful. Is the campaign telling Muslim voters that Biden condemns all of Sarsour’s views as a Muslim American progressive woman of color? The Democratic Party is a big tent party that welcomes diversity, including differing opinions on sensitive subjects. In the view of the numerous community members and allies that have reached out to us since this occurred, the message coming out of the campaign is that Joe Biden condemns those who hold certain views on Israel and its problematic treatment of Palestinians. If that is the litmus test for who is welcomed in the Party, then we are at risk of seriously fracturing it. VP Biden has publicly stated that while he opposes BDS and unfair criticism of Israel, he does not equate them with anti-Semitism. Mr. Bates essentially condemned the millions of Muslim and Arab Americans, as well as a significant percentage of the Democratic Party, who also share these views.
Emgage Action has gone to great length and taken risks in convincing many progressives, including Muslim Americans, why Joe Biden will be good for them and good for America. We have proudly stood by his side even when his positions on certain issues have not been popular with our base. We are also proud of the campaign’s unprecedented in engagement with our communities, but we seriously fear that this mishap will undermine what we have worked so hard for: to see Donald Trump defeated in November.
We are in this together. In our view, in order to rectify this self-inflicted wound is for the campaign to emphasize that it values the Arab and Muslim community and respects the diversity of opinions in the Party; and that the comments made by Mr. Bates were not the official position of the
campaign.
I welcome your consideration and response. Please don’t hesitate to reach out to discuss this issue further.
Sincerely,
Khurrum Wahid
Chairman of the Board
Emgage Action
