Sen. Sanders: GOP Rhetoric About El-Sayed 'Should Appall Every Decent American'

Sunday on CBS’s “Face the Nation,” Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-VT) said Republicans’ comments about Michigan’s Democratic nominee for the U.S. Senate, Abdul El-Sayed, should “appall every decent American.”

Partial transcript as follows:

[BEGIN SOUND ON TAPE] TED CRUZ: And if I am correct that he is a passionate supporter of the Muslim Brotherhood, there is a very real risk that Americans will die as a result. PRESIDENT DONALD TRUMP: Michigan does not need a senator who’s on the side of the terrorists. BERNIE MORENO: This character Abdul  El-Sayed can be nowhere near Washington D.C. Do you think he understands that concept that our rights come from God Almighty? That Jesus came here for our salvation. [END SOUND ON TAPE] MARGARET BRENNAN: Senator, do you think that El-Sayed could actually govern if his colleagues in the Senate are this vitriolic? SEN. SANDERS: I mean that- I just got to say, what Cruz and Trump and Vance and others are saying is disgusting. It really is. And again, I don’t care if you disagree with Abdul- he believes in Medicare for all, he believes in taxing billionaires. Fine, you disagree with him on that, that’s fine. But that level of racism, overt, absolute racism, is frankly disgusting and should appall every decent American. The fact of the matter is that Abdul is running an extraordinary campaign, and I think what you’re going to see is a good victory in Michigan for him. People will rebel against that type of ugliness. MARGARET BRENNAN: I appreciate your clarity when it comes to racism. I do want to point out that some Americans hear any criticism of sending aid to Israel and the words that the candidate has used as anti-Jewish hate, and they believe that that’s scapegoating as well. How do you respond to that? SEN. SANDERS: Well, you know, for me, it’s a little bit personal. I am Jewish. My father’s family was wiped out by Hitler. Anti-Semitism is an extraordinarily disgusting and dangerous ideology that has killed millions and millions of lives in the last century. We cannot tolerate anti-Semitism period. But the reality is that right now in Israel you have a right-wing extremist government led by Netanyahu, who, in my view, and the view of many experts, has in fact committed genocide against the Palestinian people. To be critical of a racist extremist government in Israel, and to say that American taxpayers should not spend a nickel supporting that government is not anti-Semitism, it is attacking a right-wing government, and I would say the same about any other government on earth. Does not reflect the nature of the religion of the people who are in that country.

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