I’ve written a couple of times about the battle in Ohio between the socialist wing of the Democratic Party, which is supporting Nina Turner, and the more establishment wing which is supporting Shontel Brown. Today HuffPost reports that establishment money is pouring into the race now that Brown seems within striking distance:
Moderate Democratic groups, donors and even some Republicans are flooding Ohio’s 11th Congressional District with millions of dollars in a bid to elect Shontel Brown and defeat progressive favorite Nina Turner in Tuesday’s special primary election.
House Majority Whip Jim Clyburn (D-S.C.), along with Democratic Reps. Joyce Beatty (Ohio), Gregory Meeks (N.Y.) and Bennie Thompson (Miss.), are headlining a get-out-the-vote event for Brown this weekend as well.
I was aware that Jim Clyburn, the 3rd ranking Democrat in the House, was supporting Brown, but I hadn’t been aware of why he decided to get so involved in the race. According to HuffPost, Nina Turner made a big mistake last month when she appeared on a panel with well-known rapper named Killer Mike. (Killer Mike had some interesting things to say to rioters and to CNN last summer).
Speaking on a panel with rapper “Killer” Mike Render, Turner appeared to express agreement when Render said it was “incredibly stupid” for House Majority Whip Jim Clyburn (D-S.C.) to have endorsed Biden without demanding more in exchange.
Clyburn, the highest-ranking Black member of Congress, endorsed Brown days later and was soon featured in one of her TV ads.
Here’s video of that exchange:
WATCH Killer Mike call Elder Deacon Jim Clyburn “STUPID” but “with love..” at a Town Hall for Nina Turner hosted by TYT
also watch Turner “amen” Killer Mike as he accuses Dems of being paid to NOT work for the people
A vote for Turner is a vote against the Biden Harris agenda pic.twitter.com/PeTn1N663G
— Milk Chocolate MAKamala (@NovusDivus) June 26, 2021
And it’s not just supposition that this motivated Clyburn. He told a newspaper in South Carolina that the Turner campaign had invited him to get involved by calling him stupid.
“I personally got involved … when I was invited by the Turner campaign,” Clyburn said. “(They) talked about my stupidity for endorsing Joe Biden, and I just kind of decided if I’m going to be stupid, might as well be stupid.”
Bringing the heavy hitters off the bench to oppose your campaign seems, well, incredibly stupid. But this type of blunt talk about the Democratic Party is what Nina Turner is known for. In fact, there’s a new anti-Turner ad which basically argues that she’s not really a Democrat at all.
New #OH11 ad hitting Nina Turner on her hatred for the Democratic Party. If you have an issue, don’t cry to me about it because it’s her own words. pic.twitter.com/bIZTeFsXP5
— José (@josecanyousee) July 29, 2021
We’ll have to wait a few more weeks to see if Turner can hold onto her early lead or if the pushback from the establishment, some of sparked by her own loose talk, dooms her campaign. Everything is on the line in this race for the socialist left. If they lose her as they did in New York City, they are going to have a hell of a time spinning it as insignificant because they are all in on this.
I’m obviously not a Democrat and I don’t live in Ohio, but even as an outsider I don’t see how anyone who voted for Joe Biden could vote for Nina Turner. She refused to support Biden and and shortly after he was elected she vowed he would get #NoHoneymoon. Watch this video which Turner narrated last December. It’s basically the start of the Biden resistance from the far left of the party.
