On Monday, former Democratic National Committee Chairwoman Donna Brazile made her debut appearance as an official Fox News contributor. In her appearance on The Daily Briefing with Dana Perino, Brazile said she was giving up “hypocrisy” for Lent.
“During the lenten season I try to give up something that I enjoy, and I try to do something different,” the former DNC chair said. “I decided I won’t be a hypocrite.”
“I want to talk to people. I want to listen. I want to reach out and I want to do so in civility. Most of all, I want to be able as a Democrat and progressive and a liberal to talk to the Fox family. Because they are Americans. They care about the same issues and concerns that I have,” Brazile said.
The former DNC chair is a Roman Catholic, and many Catholics and Protestants practice a kind of fasting during Lent — the 40-day season between Ash Wednesday and Easter (not counting Sundays). Often, Christians will give up something for Lent: sweets, chocolate, alcohol, or something else. Brazile suggested she was giving up being a hypocrite or hypocrisy. (There’s a problem with this: Lenten fasting is about giving up something good, not something bad.)
This seems strangely fitting for a party that claims to care for all people, but supports the killing of unborn babies in the womb. There are many potential arguments to say that Democrats are hypocrites, but rarely does a former leader of the Democratic Party just come out and say she is one.
To her credit, Brazile defended Chelsea Clinton, the daughter of President Bill Clinton, who came under fire this past weekend. Chelsea Clinton had called out Rep. Ilhan Omar (D-Minn.) for using anti-Semitic tropes. Since Omar is a Muslim, however, one activist blamed Clinton for stoking Islamophobia and somehow encouraging the mosque shooter this past Friday.
Dana Perino shared the video of the activist confronting Chelsea Clinton and asked Brazile about it.
The former DNC chair said, “I think we have to lower the temperature, lower the rhetoric and stop yelling at each other. There is no question we are a big tent party, but we do not in any way tolerate any forms of bigotry. Anti-Semitism, Islamophobia, homophobia, racism. We are not going to allow these isms to divide us, distract us from what we would like to accomplish as Americans.”
“Let me say this on a personal level, Chelsea Clinton is a woman of valor. I admire her courage and the way that she was composed during that entire process. But she is a leader and I also believe she is a healer,” Brazile said.
The clash puts Democrats like Brazile in a tough spot, because congressional Democrats refused to condemn Omar by name in their resolution against hatred, even though Omar’s anti-Semitic remarks started the process for that very resolution.
Furthermore, Brazile praising civility seems particularly rich. Last July, she urged Democrats to double down on harassing Trump officials in public.
The former DNC chair deserves credit for uncovering the corrupt secret agreement giving the Hillary Clinton campaign control over the DNC during the 2016 election, however.
Brazile may be able to give up hypocrisy for Lent, but it seems far too tall an order to suggest the Democratic Party do so.
Follow Tyler O’Neil, the author of this article, on Twitter at @Tyler2ONeil.
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