A newly hired Bernie Sanders’ campaign staffer’s tenure was short lived. Though he happily announced his position as deputy director of constituency organizing for Sanders campaign last Wednesday, Darius Khalil Gordon was fired just a day later. The reason: old tweets perceived as anti-Semitic and homophobic.
Screenshots of tweets Gordon wrote in 2010 and 2011 included references to “fags” and said he tried to pleasure himself, which was “gay AF.” He also tweeted he has “a black mans (sic) body, white mans (sic) power, jew man money, and an asian man life span…lol” and “was working had so one day I can make that Jew Money.”
After the Washington Free Beacon unearthed the old tweets, backlash began pouring in and Gordon was fired from his post. “He is no longer with the campaign and we wish him the best,” Mike Casca, a spokesperson for Sanders’ campaign, told CNN.
In response, Gordon first deleted the tweets, then deactivated his Twitter account. According to his LinkedIn account, Gordon is a National Field Organizer for The Center for Popular Democracy and Gathering for Justice. His work experience shows he’s been working in politics since 2013.
Listen to GHOGH with Jamarlin Martin | Episode 68: Jamarlin Martin
Jamarlin talks about the recent backlash against Lebron James for not speaking up for Joshua Wong and the violent Hong Kong protestors.
His profile also says he holds a degree from Penn State University in African-American/Black Studies and was in high school and college at the time of the tweets.
Several people who know and have worked with Gordon came to his defense, saying his consistent actions over the course of his political career show he is not the person he was in high school or his early twenties.