The Democratic Party has long claimed to be the party of ethnic and racial minorities that defends their civil rights and stands for inclusivity, yet their words and actions paint a much different, far more disturbing picture.
On a recent episode of “Real Time With Bill Maher,” Alleged Democratic National Committee chairwoman, Donna Brazile, not only mispronounced the name of Indian-American Entrepreneur Vivek Ramaswamy but also went so far as to tell him to “go home.”
CNN’s own Adam Kinzinger, the show’s Republican panelist, could be heard agreeing, “We all hate Vivek,” mispronouncing Ramaswamy’s name in the process.
Show host Bill Maher called Brazile out on her mispronunciation and her subsequent suggestion that Ramaswamy should “go home.”
“Vivek needs to just shut the hell up and go home. I’m tired of him,” Brazile said, butchering his name, making it sound like it rhymed with “tech.”
However, Brazile wasn’t done there. In a dismissive reply to Maher’s criticism, she claimed her own name was somehow exceptional, saying, “Donna. I’m Donna,” before hilariously going on to say, “Vivek…is it Vy-vek Ramasama?” Mockingly pronouncing his name correctly she followed up with the statement, “Vivek needs to go home.”
A 2020 CNN article, cited by the Democratic Party for its pro-civil rights stance, argued that the persistent mispronunciation or mocking of non-English names of those in positions of power such as it did with Vice President Kamala Harris or Google CEO Sundar Pichai was disrespectful and linked to racism and other forms of oppression.
Ramaswamy responded to the exchange with humor rather than outrage, highlighting his American citizenship and jokingly wondering what the same people would have done “if a white Republican intentionally mispronounced Donna’s name & then told her to return “home.”
Good point from @VivekGRamaswamy: https://t.co/RuOvQ2gVny
— @amuse (@amuse) November 19, 2023
The facts are apparent, the Democratic party wants to selectively preach about non-white individuals’ civil rights, while hypocritically failing to display the same courtesy and respect it demands from its opponents. It is time for the Democratic party to hold itself accountable for its actions and words, and accept both the criticism it deserves.