If an essay that Bernie Sanders himself admits was written in poor taste and anti-semitic slurs are all his opponents have on him, then he still has tremendous upside potential in the Democratic race. Diane Rehm, while interviewing Mr. Sanders for WAMU, whose show is heard across NPR affiliates, used the dual loyalties canard to question Mr. Sanders' patriotism:
Diane Rehm: Senator, you have dual citizenship with Israel.
Bernie Sanders: Well, no I do not have dual citizenship with Israel. I am an American. I don't know where that question came from. I am an American citizen, and I have visited Israel on a couple of occasions. No, I'm an American citizen, period.
Rehm: I understand from a list we have gotten that you were on that list.
Sanders: No.
Rehm: Forgive me if that is --
Sanders: That's some of the nonsense that goes on in the internet. But that is absolutely not true.
Rehm: Interesting. Are there members of Congress who do have dual citizenship or is that part of the fable?
Sanders: I honestly don't know but I have read that on the internet. You know, my dad came to this country from Poland at the age of 17 without a nickel in his pocket. He loved this country. I am, you know, I got offended a little bit by that comment, and I know it's been on the internet. I am obviously an American citizen and I do not have any dual citizenship.
Video of the exchange is
here.
It was completely unprofessional for Diane Rehm to make accusations against Mr. Sanders of that nature. Her excuse was that she got it from a "list" -- the only lists that we find are the kind of crackpot conspiracy theory lists and chain mail letters floating around on the Internet. They can't find anything about Bernie Sanders like they can Hillary Clinton, so they make it about him.
Update:
Diane Rehm's Apology
“On today’s show I made a mistake. Rather than asking Senator and Presidential Candidate Bernie Sanders whether he had dual U.S./Israeli citizenship, as I had read in a comment on Facebook, I stated it as fact. He corrected me, saying he did not know where the question came from. I apologized immediately. I want to apologize as well to all our listeners for having made an erroneous statement. I am sorry for the mistake. However, I am glad to play a role in putting this rumor to rest.”
Update:
Abe Foxman of ADL weighs in:
“Diane Rehm’s questions were inappropriate, insensitive questioning without any minimal journalistic checking of claims. Such a statement is not only factually incorrect, but has no place in such an interview.
“It is deeply troubling to think that a well-respected media outlet like NPR would apparently rely on unsubstantiated information from the Internet in its preparation for a guest.
“Ms. Rehm’s description and follow-up question about whether other Senators have dual citizenship with Israel play into classic anti-Semitic charges of dual loyalty. Such charges have been leveled for centuries and have been a catalyst for scapegoating and vilifying Jews.
“Senator Sanders deserves a public apology, as do NPR listeners.”
And after seeing Rehm's statement, he added:
“Her mistake was to not research it before she even stated it as fact. She shouldn’t have asked the question, period. Had she researched it, she wouldn’t have raised it at all. Because her question challenges not only his loyalty, but also Jewish loyalties to this country.”