Mehdi Hasan critiques the Democratic Party's double standards on racism. Rula Jebreal, a Palestinian-Italian journalist, apologized for using racist language against House Democratic leader Hakeem Jeffries, but was promptly denounced by top Democrats. The article highlights that this is in contrast to their reaction when right-wing figures engage in racist behavior. According to the article, at least four prominent Democrats publicly disavowed Jebreal's comments.
Written by the local model on 2026-09-11,
using this article's own text rather than the other coverage of the
same event (that is the story summary below).
Story summary
Mehdi Hasan criticizes House Democratic leader Hakeem Jeffries for supporting genocide in Gaza and embracing AIPAC, a pro-Israel lobbying group. He also praises Rula Jebreal, a Palestinian-Italian journalist and Zeteo contributor, for apologizing after using racist language to criticize Jeffries' actions. Hasan argues that Democrats, who claim to oppose racism, are hypocritical when they support or ignore the discriminatory views of certain individuals, such as Elon Musk or Laura Loomer.
Written for “Racism within Democratic Party” on 2026-09-12,
grounded in this article and the 0 other(s) covering the same event.
Why this leaning score
The article's own words the score was based on. Each is quoted
verbatim and was checked against the article text before being
stored, so you can find it in the original.
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Democrats Say They Can’t Stand Bigotry, Unless It’s From These Bigots
left headline frames the issue as a double standard
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Such tropes have a long and grotesque history when it comes to Black people in the United States, and they have no place in our political discourse.
left article describes racist language as having 'no place' in politics
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Anyone who knows Rula, and what she stands for, knows she is not a racist or bigot herself. Not only is she a principled progressive and a member of the Afro-Palestinian community, whose father was born in Nigeria, but she herself has been subjected to decades of racist, anti-Black abuse and threats from the Italian far right.
left article defends Rula Jebreal as a 'principled progressive'
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This comes off the back of relentless attacks from top Democrats on Hasan Piker, a Twitch streamer from California who holds no elected position and no formal role on any Democratic election campaigns.
left article frames Democratic criticism of Hasan Piker as 'relentless'
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Fine. Agreed. Good. But is that actually their standard? Because, if so, the question is: where is this energy when the offender is on the right?
left article questions whether Democrats apply their anti-racism standards consistently
Leaning score -0.70 for article 7689 (high confidence, 5 verified quotes) · logged 2026-09-11
📱 If our emails sometimes get buried in your inbox, we’ve got another way for you to keep up to date: the new Zeteo app.
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you → bury → date
Mehdi here, filing this newsletter from DC before I head over to the UK for the official launch of Zeteo UK at the Barbican in London on Monday evening.
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I → file → evening
In today’s ‘First Draft,’ I take on double standards from Democrats who pretend to care about racism but suddenly lose their voices when it’s the likes of Elon Musk or Laura Loomer.
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it → take → Musk
And Swin reports from the insane GOP midterm convention in Dallas, where Trump made the crowd take a personal, raised-hand pledge of allegiance to… him.
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crowd → report → him
Plus Zeteo continues to mark the 25th anniversary of 9/11 today with a range of special coverage that you won’t get elsewhere.
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you → continue → that
Democrats Say They Can’t Stand Bigotry, Unless It’s From These Bigots
There is never any kind of excuse for calling a Black man a “monkey” or an “errand boy,” whether for AIPAC or anyone else.
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It → say → AIPAC
So I was glad to see my friend, the Palestinian-Italian journalist and Zeteo contributor Rula Jebreal, apologize for (wrongly, inexcusably) using these long-standing racist tropes while (rightly, understandably) attacking House Democratic leader Hakeem Jeffries’s support for genocide in Gaza and ongoing embrace of AIPAC.
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friend → see → AIPAC
Such tropes have a long and grotesque history when it comes to Black people in the United States, and they have no place in our political discourse.
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they → have → discourse
Rula offered an unconditional apology for her racist language, in print and on air.
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Rula → offer → air
Anyone who knows Rula, and what she stands for, knows she is not a racist or bigot herself.
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she → know → what
Not only is she a principled progressive and a member of the Afro-Palestinian community, whose father was born in Nigeria, but she herself has been subjected to decades of racist, anti-Black abuse and threats from the Italian far right.
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she → bear → right
And yet, despite her intent not being racist and despite her apology being immediate, for the past week top Democrats have gone out of their way to denounce and disavow her – from DNC chair Ken Martin to House Minority Whip Katherine Clark to multiple members of Congress to prominent Democratic Party pundits.
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Democrats → go → pundits
This comes off the back of relentless attacks from top Democrats on Hasan Piker, a Twitch streamer from California who holds no elected position and no formal role on any Democratic election campaigns.
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who → come → campaigns
In these cases, the message from top Democrats has been loud, instant, and unmistakable: racist, antisemitic, anti-Black rhetoric is unacceptable, and those who engage in it must be held to account
Fine.
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who → engage → account
When Republican politicians, donors, and activists – people with actual power and influence, titles, and positions – make far more racist remarks, with far more venom and viciousness, and without issuing any kind of apology, regret, or remorse, top Democrats are AWOL.
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Democrats → make → apology
