Saikat Chakrabarti, Rep. Ocasio-Cortez’s chief of staff, has had just about as much controversy surrounding him as his boss has.
While AOC’s office will not admit the controversies are why he is heading out, most pundits believe this was something that more or less had to be done if AOC is going to get re-elected.
Chakrabarti Controversies
While Chakrabarti always seems to have some controversy around him, the last couple of months have been very bad.
In June, Chakrabarti made racist allegations against a Native American Democrat in Congress, Rep. Sharice Davids (D-KS).
He went after her because she voted in favor of the Senate border bill that AOC was against.
The House Democrat Caucus called out Chakrabarti for his comments, tweeting, “Who is this guy and why is he explicitly singling out a Native American woman of color?
“Her name is Congresswoman Davids, not Sharice.
“She is a phenomenal new member who flipped a red seat blue.
“Keep Her Name Out Of Your Mouth.”
In July, Chakrabarti once again found controversy when he attacked centrist-Democrats.
His now-deleted tweet stated that the group “certainly seem hell bent [sic] to do to black and brown people today what the old Southern Democrats did in the 40s.”
He also characterized them as the “new Southern Democrats,” with the clear implication they were all racists.
The Green New Deal
The official reason Chakrabarti is leaving is to head up a non-profit group that is promoting AOC’s Green New Deal.
AOC’s office’s official statement about Chakrabarti leaving her team stated, “Saikat has decided to leave the office of Rep. Ocasio-Cortez to work with [nonprofit group] New Consensus to further develop plans for a Green New Deal.
“We are extraordinarily grateful for his service to advance a bold agenda and improve the lives of the people in NY-14.
“From his co-founding of Justice Democrats to his work on the Ocasio-Cortez campaign and in the official office, Saikat’s goal has always been to do whatever he can to help the larger progressive movement, and we look forward to continuing working with him to do just that.”
Good cover story, but I am not buying it.
Remember, AOC and Pelosi recently met behind closed doors to hash out their problems.
Doesn’t it seem far more likely that Pelosi told AOC to lose Chakrabarti if she wants Pelosi’s support in the upcoming 2020 election?
This may have been a case of Chakrabarti falling on his sword for the greater good, especially considering the shots he has taken at fellow Democrats and how troublesome those shots have been for Dems in the media.
Source: Fox News
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