First Draft: Racism, Rula Jebreal, and the Democratic Party’s Brazen Double Standards

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Cite

Hasan, M. (2026, September 11). First Draft: Racism, Rula Jebreal, and the Democratic Party’s Brazen Double Standards. Zeteo. https://zeteo.com/p/racism-rula-jebreal-and-the-democratic

Dated when The Aporia collected the article, usually within hours of publication. Check the original for its exact date and byline.

Zeteo · collected 2026-09-11 · by Mehdi Hasan commentary

Quick Summary

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 locally by qwen2.5:14b 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).

AI analysis runs on qwen2.5:14b, locally

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 2026-10-27, grounded in this article and the 0 other(s) covering the same event.

Story

📰 Racism within Democratic Party
Politics · 1 article(s) covering the same event.

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This article reads leans strongly left and hedges 0% of its claims. Each row says how that neighbour differs.
New York Post
⚖️ Leans strongly right further right than this 🔴 6% hedged 2 of 36 📰 publisher trust 66
“The articles mention different topics and have no clear connection to each other, suggesting they cover distinct events”
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Claims extracted
15
sentences that state something as happening or true
Uncertain
0%
0 of 15 hedged ("reportedly", "may", "according to")
Leaning
Leans strongly left
expected in commentary, which argues a position · beta estimate
Publisher signals
not measured
these signals count newsroom corrections; Commentary has none to count
Outlets on this story
1
Politics
Same framing elsewhere
1
articles that frame the event the way this one does
Analyzed 2026-09-11 · how these are computed

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Zeteo · 201 article(s) · 0 correction(s) detected
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Who wrote this

Mehdi Hasan
21 article(s) here · 0 carrying a prediction
🔮 In this special, live edition of ‘Mehdi Unfiltered,’ Ramirez discusses the growing support for her bill to block weapons to Israel, whether Gaza and AIPAC will be litmus tests in the 2028 Democratic presidential primaries, and how the lobbying group’s fading influence has forced it into operating “in the shadows.”
🔮 Senator Chris Van Hollen might not be gunning for a leadership position in the Senate, but he is “kicking the tires on a 2028 national campaign,” he tells Mehdi.
🔮 The highlights include: How billionaires, right-wing politicians, and religious fundamentalists have formed a coalition set on destruction (“They believe they are chosen and they’re going to a bunker in the sky,” Klein says) The Trump administration’s dystopian reconstruction plan for Gaza, and the ongoing genocide there How centrists like Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer have allowed fascism to rise The dangerous role of unregulated artificial intelligence (“AI money should be as toxic as AIPAC money,” Taylor says) How Zohran Mamdani’s 2025 New York City mayoral campaign offers a blueprint for fighting fascism. Paid subscribers can watch the full 48-minute interview in full above, without a paywall.
🔮 The author and friend of Zeteo attended the hearing to protest the county’s massive investments in Israeli bonds (the largest globally), a matter the county’s mayor, Sarah Baxter, had no appetite for.
🔮 With just over six weeks until the midterm elections, Michigan Democratic Senate candidate Abdul El-Sayed is in a tight race against GOP candidate Mike Rogers, one that could determine which party controls the Senate during the second half of Trump’s presidency.
2026-09-18 · assertive framing · Abdul El-Sayed Hits Back Against His Critics
🔮 And while you might think the scandal has been debunked and discredited, a new book by veteran political journalist David Corn proves that couldn’t be further from the truth.
🔮 “We still live in a culture that took my daughter, made a mess of the country she left behind, and every single day I want people to know that Vanessa would not recognize this country.”
🔮 If you’re a paid subscriber, you will get to watch live conversations on stage between Mehdi and Zeteo UK journalists and contributors Shehab Khan, Sangita Myska, and Peter Oborne, as well as Green Party leader Zack Polanski.
🔮 Why would you want to miss this lively clash of ideas and opinions?
🔮 Sometimes I wonder: What would I be doing today if those planes had never hit those buildings?
Also by Mehdi Hasan
Nothing else under this byline is closely related to this article, so these are simply their most recent.
All 21 articles by Mehdi Hasan →

Topics

AIPAC Black Democrats House Zeteo

Subjects

Democrats NORP · 6× Zeteo PERSON · 3× AIPAC ORG · 2× Black NORP · 2× Democratic NORP · 2× House ORG · 2× Rula PERSON · 2× London GPE · 1× Mehdi PERSON · 1× Zeteo UK ORG · 1×

Narrative

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.
framing: assertive · carried by 1 article(s) · first seen 2026-09-11

Claims (15 extracted, 0 hedged)

📱 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. asserted
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. asserted
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. asserted
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. asserted
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. asserted
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. asserted
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. asserted
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. asserted
they → have → discourse
Rula offered an unconditional apology for her racist language, in print and on air. asserted
Rula → offer → air
Anyone who knows Rula, and what she stands for, knows she is not a racist or bigot herself. asserted
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. asserted
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. asserted
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. asserted
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. asserted
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. asserted
Democrats → make → apology
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