Former Vermont Governor Howard Dean smeared Breitbart News over the weekend by falsely claiming Breitbart News and other right-wing outlets were “racists.”
Dean tweeted out the smear after posting a link to an article from the left-wing Vox that referenced Breitbart News’ reporting on the death of Justine Damond, who was shot to death by a Minnesota police officer.
I agree with the premise but quoting only right wing sources weakens the case. We know they are racists. Liberals do it too, unconsciously https://t.co/i8o6DTpb9B
— Howard Dean (@GovHowardDean) July 30, 2017
Dean’s smear is interesting given that at the Iowa Brown and Black Presidential Forum during the 2004 election cycle, activist Al Sharpton ripped Dean for not having any blacks or Hispanics in his cabinet during his 12 years as Vermont’s governor.
NBC News reported then that Sharpton “forced Dean to acknowledge” that “no blacks or Hispanics served in his cabinet during 12 years as governor.”
“While I respect the fact you brought race into this campaign, you ought to talk freely and openly about whether you went out of the box to try to do something about race in your home state and have experience with working with blacks and browns at peer level, not as just friends you might have had in college,” Sharpton said. “It seems as though you discovered blacks and browns during this campaign.”
Dean tried to weasel his way out by saying he had a “senior member of my staff” on the fifth floor who was a person of color. But when Sharpton pressed him on whether he had any blacks or Hispanics in his cabinet, Dean sheepishly had to admit that he did not.
“If you want to lecture people on race, you ought to have the background and track record in order to do that,” Sharpton said.
When Dean discussed all of the endorsements he had from members of the Congressional Black Caucus and the Congressional Hispanic Caucus, Sharpton snapped back, saying, “I think you only need co-signers if your credit is bad.”
It appears that Breitbart News has more people of color on its staff than Dean’s cabinet ever had.
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