Maryland’s Democratic Party (and the national party) very accepting of Anti-Semitism: Case in point, Rep. Jamie Raskin
Rep. Jamie Raskin is a longtime political office-holder in Maryland (for almost a decade) for the state’s 8th congressional district.
Raskin is Jewish, as is the writer of this op-ed. But you wouldn’t know that by his recent political choice to support Michigan U.S. Senate candidate Abdul El-Sayed, who said recently that the Israeli government is as “evil” as Hamas, who orchestrated the cowardly murderous attack that ended the lives, it is generally accepted, of 1200 Israeli citizens, mostly at a music festival. The brutal sneak attack, including grisly rape, mutilation and torture that also led to subsequent atrocities, is still shocking to those who have seen videos of it.
Without citing specific evidence, El-Sayed exonerates Hamas in a CNN interview, arguing an equivalency between Israel and Hamas- since both and Hamas and Israel killed people. The fact that Israel acted after being attacked was irrelevant to him: “Killing tens of thousands of people makes you pretty damn evil…It’s not how evil is this one versus that one — Hamas: Evil, Israeli government: Evil. We can say both.”
New York Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, a democratic socialist, announced her support of El-Sayed on July 2nd.
Where does Hassan Piker raise his ugly anti-Semitic head?
Who is Piker? This supporter of El-Sayed was nominated by StopAntisemitism, a pro-Israel nonprofit, to be its “Antisemite of the Year,” apropos of his rhetorical attacks on Israel, per such remarks in which he claims: “It doesn’t matter if rapes [f–king] happened on Oct. 7.”
Piker makes the standard argument expected from anti-Semites: His criticisms of Israel should not be construed as implying criticisms of Jewish people. Says he: “I find it very cynical when people say that I’m anti-Semitic or make any conflation between Judaism and Zionism.”
https://www.nytimes.com/2026/
Typical of his anti-Jewish and anti-Zionist rants, Piker in his trademark profane statements says: “It is literally the Jewish KKK brigades out there [in the West Bank]. Just a bunch of f–king inbred hicks literally doing pogroms to the Arab population.”
https://www.adl.org/resources/
And where does Rep. Raskin come in along with his new Democratic creed: “Nothing matters except winning at the polls”?
Democrats and Republicans are expected, even by independents such as I, to have a moral basis. As a person who has not voted Democrat much in the last few decades, I have made exceptions when I respected the candidates, such as the admiration I have long had for Democratic senators and governors in Maryland-senators who would not stake out positions for exclusively political gain if those positions compromised their sense of right and wrong.
I have voted proudly for Democrats Paul Sarbanes, Barbara Mikulski, Ben Cardin, and Republicans Robert Ehrlich (who spoke in my class regularly), Larry Hogan (R) (who spoke in my class several times), and I have liked Martin O’Malley (whose wife was my excellent student and who spoke in my class).
I don’t believe any of them would support El-Sayed. I know most of them are revulsed by him.
But not Jamie Raskin.
In an interview with Democratic Rep. Raskin by CNN’s Kasie Hunt, who, to be fair, is not known as being radically left, but is no stranger to interviewing Raskin, his ethical lapse is evident. Hunt’s familiarity with Raskin may account for her uncharacteristically unchallenging interview, but is no excuse.
Forgive me: I don’t watch CNN very much anymore. But this may have been her most incompetent obsequious interview.
I won’t go through all of it. But I shall point to the least offensive question asked by Ms. Hunt, from my perspective of one who taught Media Criticism for two decades at Towson University and founded the course.
She asked for Raskin’s reaction to the embarrassing and incongruous support by Democrats of Michigan’s anti-Semitic, anti-American Democratic candidate El-Sayed, especially in light of Maryland’s worst senator– who is arguably anti-Semitic as well — support of same.
Sen. Chris Van Hollen endorsed El-Sayed, unsurprising in view of his far-far-left irresponsible actions over the last few years (see his pandering interview of foreign terrorist Kilmar Abrego Garcia in El Salvador). Never an apology.
Raskin’s response as to why he supports El-Sayed, to which there was no follow-up by Hunt: I’ll support him [al-Sayed] 100%. We’re a big party.
Again, I am no longer surprised by most anti-Jewish sentiment among current Maryland Democrats.
But Rep. Raskin’s I did not expect.
Rep. Jamie Raskin…another self-hating Jewish principal …I wish I could tell you what my parents and grandparents thought of such amoral politically expedient politicians.
Richard E. Vatz https://wp.towson.edu/vatz/ is a Distinguished Professor Emeritus of political rhetoric at Towson University and author of The Only Authentic of Persuasion: the Agenda-Spin Model (Bookwrights House, 2024) and over 200 other works, essays, lectures, and op-eds. He is the benefactor of the Richard E. Vatz Best Debater Award at Towson. The Van Bokkelen Auditorium at Towson University has been named after him.
For self-hating Jews like Raskin, I have questions: When your support of Jew-hating politicians whisks them into Congress and anti-Jewish hatred makes it too dangerous for Jews to live in the USA, the place to which you will run is Israel (Law of Return) which you are trying so hard to weaken. Have you learned nothing from the Jews’ experience in pre-Holocaust Germany? Second, you call yourself an American and therefore you should support foreign countries and entities that benefit the USA. The list of Israel’s actions that benefit the USA is very, very long. In contrast, there is not a single thing that Palestinians have done to benefit the USA: they are parasites, harboring terrorists, and violated the ceasefire on October 7th. Yet you deny Israel’s right to defend itself against their unceasing attacks. You must be sooo proud of yourself. Shame on you.
Well said, Professor Vatz. Antisemitism should be condemned consistently, no matter where it comes from or who is involved. There cannot be one standard for political allies and another for everyone else. Thank you for speaking out on an issue that deserves honest discussion.
Thank you for that kind reaction…I just don’t know what formerly responsible Democrats are thinking anymore…Prof.