A host of a popular left-leaning online news show said she is done with Democrats for their many failures, including not putting Roe v. Wade's legalization of abortion into federal law.
The Young Turks host Ana Kasparian laid into Democrats and former President Barack Obama on a recent episode of the program. During a segment on women's rights and Democrat donor money, she voiced her frustration with Democrats and said the party capitulates on many different issues.
"And Democrats, they just keep losing. They just keep losing. They keep cowering, they keep caving, they keep capitulating to the American Taliban, over and over and over again. And I'm supposed to give them a round of applause because every once in a while, they announce that they're going to form a commission to study something? No thanks. I'm done with them," Kasparian said.
"I'm supposed to give this party, which has failed us on everything, a round of applause?—I'm not going to apologize for ineffective, lazy, corrupt, weakness."@AnaKasparian torches @TheDemocrats for failing to codify #RoeVWade and supporting anti-choice Dems like @RepCuellar. pic.twitter.com/30rEouFbRe
— The Young Turks (@TheYoungTurks) May 4, 2022
Kasparian's criticism of Democrats comes after Monday's leak of a draft opinion from the Supreme Court, which indicated that a majority of the justices support overturning Roe, the 1973 decision that legalized abortion. The document, which Chief Justice John Roberts later said was authentic, has sparked outrage among abortion rights supporters. Roberts has ordered an investigation into the leak.
Later in the Young Turks segment, a graphic with a portion of a 2009 New York Times article from Sheryl Stolberg about an Obama adviser appears on screen. At the time, the adviser was working to put together a series of talks on abortion with Democrats and Republicans. In reaction, Kasparian continues to voice her dismay with Democrats.
"Oh well, thank you so much!" she said. "I'm really glad that he campaigned as someone who would codify Roe v. Wade and then as soon as he was elected, he wanted to reach across the aisle and see what the religious zealots had to say about my body and what I can do with it. Thank you, Obama! I'm supposed to give that guy a round of applause?"
Kasparian went on, "I'm supposed to give this party that has failed us on everything, everything, including voting rights, which is political suicide for them by the way, I'm supposed to give them a round of applause?"
A clip of Kasparian talking about religion and abortion has gone viral, this one from 2018. In it, she refers to women who use the Bible to try to deter other women from getting an abortion.
"I don't care what the Bible says. You have every right in the world—all those women who identify with your religion have every the right in the world to not get an abortion, to not take birth control. But they do not have the right to dictate my life and what I decide to do with my body," Kasparian said.
On its website, The Young Turks describes itself as "America's largest online progressive news show."
When reached by Newsweek, Kasparian said in a statement, "Hundreds of millions of women just learned that their reproductive rights will be ripped away from them by religious zealots in this country.... Democrats have failed us on every issue, and relying on them would be foolish."
She added, "The American electorate needs to organize outside of Congress, not to elect more Democrats but to implement well-strategized pressure campaigns that can compete with corporate interests. I'm certain nothing else would work."
Newsweek reached out to Obama for comment.
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Newsweek is committed to challenging conventional wisdom and finding connections in the search for common ground.
Newsweek is committed to challenging conventional wisdom and finding connections in the search for common ground.
