Tag: communications adviser

Back when police were vigorously pursuing suspects following the 2013 Boston Marathon bombings, a senior communications adviser and speechwriter with 2020 presidential candidate Bernie Sanders wrote, "Let's hope the Boston Marathon bomber is a white American" -- and then confidently doubled down hours later, in a separate piece entitled, "I still hope the bomber is a white American." David Sirota, an investigative journalist and social media attack dog who has slammed Sanders' opponents in recent weeks, was formally brought into Sanders' campaign on Tuesday, along with a slew of other political veterans. The April 15, 2013, bombings, which killed three and injured dozens others, were perpetrated by Dzhokhar Tsarnaev and Tamerlan Tsarnaev. The Kyrgyz-American brothers invoked extremist Islamic beliefs and said American military actions had motivated them. Dzhokhar has been sentenced to death; Tamerlan was killed. (AP, File) He added: "That means regardless of your particular party affiliation, if you care about everything from stopping war to reducing the defense budget to protecting civil liberties to passing immigration reform, you should hope the bomber was a white domestic terrorist. "I still hope the bomber is a white American." — Bernie Sanders 2020 communications adviser David Sirota "If recent history is any guide, if the bomber ends up being a white anti-government extremist, white privilege will likely mean the attack is portrayed as just an isolated incident -- one that has no bearing on any larger policy debates," Sirota said. (AP Photo/Charles Krupa, File) "The reason ... to hope that the bomber ends up being a white American is because the double standard may prevent an overreaction to the heinous attacks in Boston," Sirota wrote. "By the way, you don't have to be a person of color or a political liberal to hope the bomber ends up being a white American," Sirota continued.

Back when police were vigorously pursuing suspects following the 2013 Boston Marathon bombings, a senior communications adviser and speechwriter with 2020 presidential candidate Bernie Sanders wrote, "Let's hope the Boston Marathon bomber is a white American" -- and then confidently doubled down hours later, in a separate piece entitled, "I still hope the bomber is a white American." David Sirota, an investigative journalist and social media attack dog who has slammed Sanders' opponents in recent weeks, was formally brought into Sanders' campaign on Tuesday, along with a slew of other political veterans. The April 15, 2013, bombings, which killed three and injured dozens others, were perpetrated by Dzhokhar Tsarnaev and Tamerlan Tsarnaev. The Kyrgyz-American brothers invoked extremist Islamic beliefs and said American military actions had motivated them. Dzhokhar has been sentenced to death; Tamerlan was killed. (AP, File) He added: "That means regardless of your particular party affiliation, if you care about everything from stopping war to reducing the defense budget to protecting civil liberties to passing immigration reform, you should hope the bomber was a white domestic terrorist. "I still hope the bomber is a white American." — Bernie Sanders 2020 communications adviser David Sirota "If recent history is any guide, if the bomber ends up being a white anti-government extremist, white privilege will likely mean the attack is portrayed as just an isolated incident -- one that has no bearing on any larger policy debates," Sirota said. (AP Photo/Charles Krupa, File) "The reason ... to hope that the bomber ends up being a white American is because the double standard may prevent an overreaction to the heinous attacks in Boston," Sirota wrote. "By the way, you don't have to be a person of color or a political liberal to hope the bomber ends up being a white American," Sirota continued.