NC Democratic Party distances itself from progressive leader’s Jewish Caucus comments
The North Carolina Democratic Party distanced itself Wednesday from comments made by a progressive party leader, and called for the recently created Jewish Caucus to get a formal status within the party that was denied just last week by its executive committee.
In a statement released on X, formerly Twitter, NCDP spokesman Tommy Mattocks said party leadership “believes in creating safe spaces for our many constituency communities to organize so that they may advocate for the elected officials and policies that most-impact their lives and their beliefs.”
Mattocks said that “procedural issues” led to many of the “no” votes that were cast on Nov. 12, when the party’s executive committee voted 17-16 to reject recognition for the Jewish Caucus, according to a vote count reported by Jewish Insider. Sixteen other members of the committee voted to abstain, including NCDP Chair Anderson Clayton and all three of the party’s vice-chairs.
Despite the vote failing, Mattocks said, the party remains “committed to helping the Jewish Caucus achieve recognition under the NCDP.”
NCDP says progressive leader doesn’t speak for party
In the statement, the party also distanced itself from controversial comments made last week by Ryan Jenkins, president of the party’s Progressive Caucus, saying that Jenkins “doesn’t speak for the party” and his comments about what happened during the Nov. 12 vote were not “an accurate depiction of what occurred.”
Speaking to WFAE, Jenkins said members of the Jewish Caucus had “done nothing but whine and play the victim and attack people,” and claimed that each of the 16 votes to abstain “was a no vote that didn’t want to get targeted.”
Jenkins told WFAE that many progressive party members don’t want the Jewish Caucus to be affiliated with the party, and that if the party ended up accepting the caucus, progressive members could boycott the 2024 election.
“If the Democratic Party caves to it, that’s the end of the Democratic Party. We’re not Democrats, we’re the Jewish Caucus. We’re a Zionist group. Because they control everything,” Jenkins went on to say, according to WFAE. “(If we approve the caucus), we’re telling them very clearly they are allowed to threaten and bully us and they will get their way every single time and that our rules don’t apply.”
The comments received attention on social media last week, and Jenkins apologized on Saturday, telling WFAE he realized he “chose my words poorly and should have been more exact,” and was sorry if anyone “misinterpreted” what he said “as playing to antisemitic tropes about secret cabals and other racist nonsense.”
Internal complaint over Islamophobic comments
The controversy over the Jewish Caucus being passed up for formal affiliation, and Jenkins’ comments, is the latest flare-up in the N.C. Democratic Party over how the party has responded to allegations of antisemitism and Islamophobia within its own ranks.
Recent tensions between party caucuses over Israel and Palestinians have been brewing for several months, and have seemed to grow in light of the unprecedented terrorist attacks on Israel by Hamas last month, and the subsequent military response that has left thousands dead in Gaza.
In March, Nazim Uddin, a member of the party’s Asian-American Pacific Islander Caucus, filed a complaint against Matt Sadinsky, the former head of the Jewish Caucus, and other members, for what he said was derogatory and Islamophobic language.
Specifically, Uddin said he had a recording of a phone call between Sadinsky and Jenkins, in which Sadinsky called Uddin a “Nazi” and said he wouldn’t be surprised if Uddin was an “Iranian spy sent to undermine American democracy.” Uddin and Jenkins also claimed that Sadinsky repeatedly pronounced Uddin’s first name Nazim as “Nazi-em.”
In an interview with The Charlotte Observer last month, Sadinsky denied saying those things. Uddin, meanwhile, told the Observer he had “lost faith” in the party’s ability to mediate a resolution to his complaint, and said the party could not “be a party that turns a blind eye to blatant racism, bigotry and Islamophobia.”
The complaint was ultimately resolved last month, according to Jewish Insider, nearly eight months after it was first submitted.
Congressional Democrats urge party to recognize Jewish Caucus
The tensions within the party mirror similar dynamics that have played out among Democrats nationally.
At the same time, Republicans have drawn attention to the controversy over the Jewish Caucus not being recognized to accuse the NCDP of antisemitism. Lt. Gov. Mark Robinson, who has in the past made antisemitic remarks himself, and is the presumed GOP frontrunner for governor, said the failed vote was “another sad example” of North Carolina Democrats “refusing to stand with Israel and the Jewish people against terrorism.”
After the vote, several Democratic members of North Carolina’s congressional delegation, including U.S. Reps. Kathy Manning, Wiley Nickel, Deborah Ross, and Jeff Jackson, said they were disappointed by the vote, and called on the party to address the issue and recognize the caucus as soon as possible, according to Jewish Insider.
On Wednesday, Democratic Attorney General Josh Stein, who is his party’s presumed frontrunner for governor, told The N&O he had met with Clayton, the party chair, “to express my disappointment with the results of the vote and to find a path forward.”
In a statement, Stein said the party “must embrace North Carolina Jewish Democrats who feel isolated during a time of rising antisemitism and come together to focus on our priority — defeating Mark Robinson, who has a well-documented history of antisemitic comments.”
This story was originally published November 22, 2023 at 3:39 PM.
