On Nov. 12, the Southern Poverty Law Center announced that it had analyzed a cache of over 900 e-mails sent by Stephen Miller, currently a senior policy advisor to Donald Trump.
The e-mails, which had been leaked by a former editor at far-right propaganda outlet Breitbart, were sent in 2015 and 2016 and contained explicit white nationalist and white supremacist content.
In response to this, over 100 House Democrats sent a letter to Trump on Nov. 21, demanding Miller’s immediate termination.
Rep. Kathleen Rice wasn’t one of the letter’s signatories, but she did tweet on Nov. 12, “A white nationalist promoting white nationalism. This should surprise absolutely no one.”
I share the outrage of the letter’s signatories. I also share Rep. Rice’s sentiment that Miller’s racist and xenophobic beliefs were not closely guarded secrets.
One supposed leader who has been silent on this issue, however, is Rep. Tom Suozzi. Suozzi did not sign onto the letter and did not publicly comment on Miller’s e-mails, either by social media or official press release.
Not only is remaining silent on this issue a dereliction of duty on Suozzi’s part, but he also failed to apologize for comments he made in regard to Miller this past spring.
On April 8, Rep. Ilhan Omar called Stephen Miller a “white nationalist” on Twitter and decried his influence on White House policy and political appointments. The following day, Suozzi appeared on CNN, engaging in his usual game of false equivalence.
While Suozzi acknowledged Miller’s “anti-immigrant rhetoric,” he refused to label him as a white nationalist and claimed that Omar’s accusation made it equally difficult to reach a compromise on immigration policy.
Suozzi even echoed Trump’s infamous “both sides” Charlottesville comment, stating, “Either side using harsh rhetoric and not talking about solutions and common ground is hurtful to the country.”
Basically, Suozzi was claiming on national television that calling a white nationalist a white nationalist was just as bad as a white nationalist peddling hate and that finding common ground with white nationalists was not only possible, but also something to strive for.
Giving any ground to hate is morally inexcusable. Refusing to label hate as hate is morally inexcusable. If Suozzi won’t acknowledge this, he is absolutely unfit for office.
Matthew Zeidman
New Hyde Park
