For the sake of Democratic Party Unity!

Zerlina Maxwell, Senior Director of the "Progressive" Programming for SiriusXM and MSNBC Political Analyst, should immediately be removed from both positions. Her baseless and constant attacks on one, and only one, Democratic candidate, Senator Bernie Sanders, reflect her complete lack of journalistic integrity. As a former Hillary Clinton supporter and adviser, Ms. Maxwell and Jennifer Rubin (The Washington Post) still blame Senator Sanders for Clinton's loss in 2016. Rather than harboring a grudge by attacking Senator Sander, it's time for Ms. Maxwell, and the Democratic Party at large, to put principles before personalities and move forward.

Ms. Maxwell's unfounded attacks on Senator Sanders are doing a grave disservice to the Democratic Party and the progressive movement as a whole. Ms. Maxwell is neither a journalist nor an analyst, and behaves more and more like a paid propagandist.

Here are just a few examples of where Ms. Maxwell conveniently ignores the truth and engages is sophistry.

When Senator Sanders officially launched his second presidential run in Brooklyn, NY, he gave a passionate speech about his upbringing, as well as his commitment to racial and gender equality. Yet Ms. Maxwell appeared on MSNBC and falsely claimed that Senator Sanders did not talk about race and gender until 23 minutes into his speech. Waleed Shahid tweeted: at 3mn: he thanked @shawnking for his work on criminal justice reform-At 6mn:he discussed fighting Trump's sexism + racism, at 13mn: he discussed mass incarceration. Ms. Maxwell since deleted her tweet. When Senator Sanders mentioned that he had marched with Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. during the SheThePeople Summit, Ms. Maxwell went on Bill Maher and lied about Bernie not answering the question asked of him. He actually answered the question, but not to her satisfaction. In another recent tweet, Ms. Maxwell wrote, "Kamala Harris doesn't have a Bernie Sanders problem. The so-called 'Sanders Left' has a black women problem." According to every single recent poll, this comment couldn't be further from the truth. Senator Sanders and Joe Biden score the highest among the non-white electorate, including black women. On June 5, 2019, Ms. Maxwell tweeted, "Senator Sanders didn't support repealing the Hyde Amendment when he started his campaign in 2016, but eventually did because BLACK WOMEN VOTE." This tweet is a serious mischaracterization for two reasons: First, it mischaracterized Bernie's strong stance for women's rights, and second, it incorrectly implied that his supposed evolution on the matter was simply a calculated political move to gain the support of this constituency. Both her claims are false! Ms. Maxwell once again backtracked from her false claims after an avalanche of criticism by Senator Sanders's staffers and supporters. It goes without saying that Senator Sanders has been a consistent defender and advocate of women's reproductive rights since he was first elected to the Congress in 1991.

These are just a few examples of Zerlina Maxwell's baseless attacks on Bernie Sanders.

These attacks must stop! The 2020 presidential election will be the most consequential election of our lifetime, as it is our opportunity to defeat Trump and his white supremacy agenda. But defeating Trump requires that the Democratic Party remain united, even during the primaries when candidates are expected to debate one another and disagree over policy. Disagreement and debate are indeed necessary for any robust democracy. Yet falsely attacking a candidate such as Senator Sanders adds nothing to the marketplace of ideas and only divides the Democratic party. These attacks also ignite the GOP, which, despite Trump's divisive nature, has managed to stay united. My only advice for Ms. Maxwell is to practice restraint of pen and tongue when it comes to false attacks. Let's stick to the facts!

All candidate can agree, however, that Trump needs to go.

We want to talk about policies and how to defeat Trump and his white supremacy agenda. But, until the Democratic Party reigns in its attack dogs, party unity can not take place.We, as real progressives, must respond to these attacks by setting the record straight. The 2020 presidential election will be the most consequential election of our lifetime. We want to talk about policies and how to defeat Trump and his white supremacy agenda. But, until the Democratic Party reigns in its attack dogs, party unity can not take place.

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