If you want a vision of the future of the Democrat Party of Virginia, imagine a young man in a bow-tie screaming at the President – forever.
Due apologies to George Orwell aside, Virginia Democrats have now accepted the screaming face of Del. Ibraheem Samirah as the public image of their party in a critical election year.
Samirah, elected in February, is so new to the General Assembly that he’s only sat for two days of session — the April veto session and the first day of the Governor’s gun control special session. He hasn’t even received committee assignments yet.
He’s made the Green New Deal a centerpiece of his campaigns, and supports a raft of other hard-left positions from gun control to business regulations to higher taxes.
A former campaign worker for Rep. Rashisa Tlaib, D-Michigan, he checks all the boxes to become the first member of a Virginia-level “Squad,” the nickname for a group of outspoken Democratic freshmen who have given Democratic leadership fits.
His outburst at Tuesday’s Jamestown 400 commemoration was the toast of Democrat social media. With only two legislative days under his belt, Samirah reached left-wing apotheosis — an invitation to appear on MSNBC.
It’s the closest remaining thing Democrats have to an ancient Roman triumphal parade.
Democrats are allegedly fuming internally. But if there’s anyone standing on the chariot beside Samirah whispering in his ear “remember thou art mortal,” it’s not going to be the House Democrat leadership.
Privately, Democrats are said to be fuming But publicly, they’re embracing Samirah’s stunt as justified.
According to the Washington Post, House Minority Leader Eileen Filler-Corn said not only does she not plan to reprimand Samirah, but he wasn’t wrong for his outburst.
“I think it’s quite clear that the current president continues to demean many groups of people, including people of color, including immigrants — many different groups of human beings over and over and over again. And that’s worthy of speaking out against,” she said.
Republicans were muted in their response. Speaker Cox said he was “disappointed” in the breach of decorum.
“It was not only inconsistent with common decency, it was also a violation of the rules of the House,” he said in a written statement.
“Because of its ethnic and cultural dimension, the Samirah episode could stir up the heavily white Trump vote on which Republicans are relying to preserve their slender majorities in the House of Delegates and Virginia Senate,” he said.
A member of the media calling opposition to outbursts and far-left policies from a radical freshmen member of the lower house racist?
Check one more box for the Squad 2.0.