Hillary Clinton Endorses The Candidate MAGA Trumpers Want

Backing MAGA funded Latimer over the people funded Bowman sends a clear message to BIPOC voters—and it isn't a good one

Last week Hillary Clinton entered one of the most hotly contested Democratic primaries nationwide when she endorsed George Latimer over incumbent Democrat Jamaal Bowman in New York’s 16th Congressional District. Tragically, as the receipts below show, Clinton’s endorsement betrays Democratic principles and legitimizes bigotry, and we need to call it out so it does not become further normalized.

So, Let’s Address This.

Jamaal Bowman (L), Hillary Clinton (C), George Latimer (R). Collage Credit: Leigh Vogel, EUGENE GOLOGURSKY & TASOS KATOPODIS / GETTY IMAGES NORTH AMERICA / Getty Images via AFP

On June 12 Hillary Clinton tweeted:

With Trump on the ballot, we need strong, principled Democrats in Congress more than ever. In Congress, @LatimerforNY will protect abortion rights, stand up to the NRA, and fight for President Biden’s agenda—just like he’s always done. Make a plan to vote by June 25th!

I responded by pointing out that Latimer is MAGA funded, and also that when I ran for Congress against a corporate funded Democrat in a deep blue seat, I was lectured endlessly that "we don't primary Dems because we need party unity." Why did party unity mantra suddenly go out the window? The immediate response to my tweet from some was quite aggressive, and I wondered if people either don’t know, or don’t care that Latimer is MAGA funded?

Because unfortunately, in addition to Latimer’s extensive funding from right wing extremists, literally everything about Clinton’s statement, positions, and implicit accusations against incumbent Jamal Bowman, is entirely false. Unlike Latimer, Bowman is not a career politician. He’s one of the first Black men to represent Westchester in Congress, and one of only 62 Black members in all of U.S. Congress. With the NY-16 primary rapidly approaching on June 25, the race has sharply divided Democrats. Yet still, many former Latimer supporters have started a group to openly support Congressman Bowman.

Let’s dive into the receipts with three key reasons why Clinton’s endorsement is so destructive (yes, destructive) to the Democratic Party and to our national politics.

1. Yes, George Latimer is MAGA funded

First, George Latimer is absolutely MAGA funded to the tune of millions of dollars. In fact, he’s funded by the same right wing donors that helped Donald Trump defeat Hillary Clinton in 2016. As Liza Featherstone wrote for Jacobin:

Louro, an insurance mogul who has already given $5,000 to Latimer, is a top Donald Trump fundraiser. He hosted a $5,000-a-plate event for Trump in 2016. In the last election, he hosted a party for New York governor Kathy Hochul’s far-right opponent, Lee Zeldin. Donald Trump Jr. was a featured speaker. Louro…has also served as regional finance chairman for New York state’s Republican Party. Alex Dubitsky, CEO of a “bespoke insurance” firm based in Connecticut, who gave $15,000 to Trump in 2020, held a brunch in January at his home in Larchmont, inviting his friends to pay up to $6,600 to meet and greet Latimer. Hedge funder Daniel Loeb has also donated to Latimer. Loeb is a charter school zealot who has given $1.5 million to Mitch McConnell, $200,000 to a PAC supporting Dr Oz, along with millions to the Republican Party.

And this is but the tip of the ice berg of the additional millions that AIPAC is spending to unseat Bowman due to his ‘unforgivable’ position of demanding an end to the siege on Gaza that has, to date, killed at least 37,000 Palestinian civilians. It is simply mind boggling that Clinton would endorse a candidate for Congress—against an incumbent Democrat no less—who is propped up by the same MAGA extremists that helped defeat her.

2. Clinton’s stated reasons to endorse Latimer contradict themselves

Next, Clinton’s premise is she’s endorsing Latimer because “Trump is on the ballot” — which already doesn’t make sense given Latimer’s MAGA support. She continues that, “Latimer will protect abortion rights, stand up to the NRA, and fight for President Biden’s agenda.” But none of this makes sense either for the following reasons.

First, Bowman is staunchly pro access and endorsed by Planned Parenthood—so Latimer brings nothing new here. Second, Bowman is staunchly pro gun safety and anti-NRA and is endorsed by the Brady Campaign among other gun safety organizations—so again, Latimer brings nothing new here either.

Third, Jamaal Bowman has supported President Biden’s economic policies to cancel student debt, ensure the wealthy pay their fair share in taxes, and has voted with Biden more than 94% of the time—while George Latimer is on record that he is “not signing on to raising taxes” on the wealthy, as Mr. Biden wants. So on abortion, gun safety, and Biden’s economic agenda, Bowman is already a champion—while Latimer brings nothing new on abortion and guns, and instead is on record opposing Biden’s economic policies while aligning himself with Trump’s economic policies.

In short, Clinton endorsed the candidate who wants to block President Biden’s plan to raise taxes on billionaires and trillion dollar corporations, over the incumbent Democrat working with President Biden on strengthening the middle class and holding the wealthy accountable—all at a time when wealth and income inequality is at record highs. This is the “strong principled Democrat” Hillary Clinton wants in Congress?

3. Clinton’s endorsement of Latimer, despite his racism and Islamophobia, sends a clear message to BIPOC voters

Finally, as if embracing MAGA funding and opposing Biden’s economic plan wasn’t already disqualifying, George Latimer is also running his campaign as someone willing to throw BIPOC communities under the bus. And I don’t just mean his deeply upsetting history of slow walking desegregation efforts, because he proved his disdain for people of color again just last week. During a League of Women Voters debate he maligned Congressman Jamaal Bowman by stating, “Your constituency is Dearborn, Michigan.” Dearborn, of course has the highest per capita population of Muslim Americans in the country. The Arab-American Institute tweeted in response:

Shame on @LatimerforNY for thinking city w/highest concentration of #ArabAmericans is a way to attack @JamaalBowmanNY by reportedly saying “Your constituency is Dearborn, Michigan.” We’re everyone’s constituency & anti-Arab racism must be condemned.

SiriusXM Radio Host and Activist Dean Obeidallah added:

Hillary just endorsed a man who openly trafficked in anti-Muslim and anti-Arab bigotry. Anti-Muslim hate--just like anti-Jewish hate--has no place in the Democratic party. Hillary 100% knows what Latimer did- she simply doesn't care.

Likewise, Democrat and Georgia State Representative Ruwa Romman tweeted her frustration:

This [Clinton] endorsement coming right after Latimer's islamophobic comments is on brand tbh, and I'm tired of everyone ignoring it.

Latimer’s bigoted comment is why I’ve long said that Islamophobia is one of the last acceptable forms of bigotry in the United States, and certain Democrats like Latimer (and apparently Hillary Clinton) happily employ it if they believe it will earn them votes.

So far, Latimer has faced zero public backlash from any politician or person in power—Democrat or Republican—for his anti-Muslim and anti-Arab comment. By contrast, imagine the (rightful) outrage if Bowman accused Latimer of paying homage to the highest per capita Jewish population in America? It would rightly be inexcusable because both Islamophobia and antisemitism should have no place in our political discourse.

Latimer’s racism towards Dearborn and Clinton’s subsequent endorsement is even more perplexing given Dearborn voted for Clinton nearly 70/30 in 2016. And thus the crux of the matter. If the establishment Democrat response to the Arab American and Muslim American community voting for a Democratic Presidential candidate by more than 2-1 is to not protect those communities, but to instead elevate the very politicians using MAGA Trump bigotry to demonize Arab American and Muslim American communities, then why should that voter loyalty remain? Endorsing such hate is a clear message that our votes don’t matter. And as close as the 2024 election in November is shaping up to be, this is a profoundly backwards and arrogant strategy.

In Conclusion

Imagine if someone told you the day after the 2016 Presidential election, that within a decade Hillary Clinton would endorse a candidate for Congress against an incumbent Democrat, a candidate who is MAGA funded, who opposes the Democrat President’s economic agenda, and who embraces racist tropes to win votes? You’d likely call them crazy and ask if Hillary joined the Republican Party?

Unfortunately, we don’t have to imagine that scenario, because that candidate exists in George Latimer and that endorsement exists from Hillary Clinton. I don’t know how to convince Hillary to rescind her endorsement and instead get behind Bowman, but I found an old quote from a candidate running a principled campaign against a bigot some years ago that might help her reflect. They said:

You could put half of [my opponent’s supporters as] racist, sexist, homophobic, xenophobic, Islamaphobic — you name it. And unfortunately there are people like that. And he has lifted them up. He has given voice to [them] and their offensive hateful mean-spirited rhetoric.

Despite this stark plea for humanity and dignity, that candidate lost their election, and that “racist, sexist, homophobic, xenophobic, Islamaphobic” bigotry spread rapidly.

The losing candidate who delivered the above quote was none other than Hillary Clinton in 2016. Today in 2024, rather than “lift up and give voice” to a MAGA funded, anti-working family, openly racist candidate for Congress, I encourage her to follow her own advice, support Congressman Jamaal Bowman, and reject such hateful mean-spirited rhetoric.

After all, that would be the principled, Democratic thing to do.