In an interview with CNN’s Jake Tapper on “State of the Union,” Sanders called the incident “unspeakable” and “disgusting.”
“Obviously, it is unspeakable. It is disgusting. It is something — I got to tell you, I never expected in my life, as an American, to see a swastika at a major political rally. It’s horrible,” the Vermont senator said.
On Thursday, a man was kicked out of a Sanders rally after he unfurled a flag with a swastika on it. The man was immediately booed by the crowd. Members of the audience ripped the flag from the individual’s hand, and the individual was quickly removed by security.
The incident, which Sanders said on Sunday he learned about after leaving the stage, sparked an outcry, was widely denounced on social media and prompted calls for security.
“He was behind me. And I was speaking to the crowd and I saw crowds booing and I turned around, I didn’t quite see what it was. I learned about it right after I left the stage,” Sanders said. “The idea that there was a swastika, a symbol of everything that this country stands against — we lost 400,000 people fighting that symbol, fighting Nazism. Six million Jews were killed, other people were killed. The most devastating war in the history of humanity.”
If elected, Sanders would be America’s first Jewish president. Sanders’ extended family from Poland was killed in the Holocaust during World War II. That was a fact referenced in a tweet from former Vice President Joe Biden, also a Democratic presidential candidate, condemning the act as “disgusting and beyond the pale.”
In the moment, in response to the boos, Sanders told the large crowd of his supporters that “whoever it was” that caused the disruption was “a little outnumbered tonight.”
“And more importantly, they’re going to be outnumbered in November,” he added.
The American Jewish Committee tweeted Friday, “Nazi flags are symbols of pure hate and have no place anywhere in America, much less in a rally for a Jewish presidential candidate. We are grateful that those responsible were removed immediately.”
Assault, harassment and vandalism against Jews remain at near-historic levels, according to the Anti-Defamation League, whose most recent audit in 2018 of anti-Semitic incidents showed it was the third-highest year on record since the ADL started tracking in 1979.
The report found a total of 1,879 acts against Jews and Jewish institutions across the country, including the mass shooting at the Tree of Life synagogue in Pittsburgh, believed to be the deadliest attack on the Jewish community in the history of the US.
CNN’s Veronica Stracqualursi and Annie Grayer contributed to this report.
OTTAWA – Prime Minister Justin Trudeau says the NDP is caving to political pressure from Conservative Leader Pierre Poilievre when it comes to their stance on the consumer carbon price.
Trudeau says he believes Jagmeet Singh and the NDP care about the environment, but it’s “increasingly obvious” that they have “no idea” what to do about climate change.
On Thursday, Singh said the NDP is working on a plan that wouldn’t put the burden of fighting climate change on the backs of workers, but wouldn’t say if that plan would include a consumer carbon price.
Singh’s noncommittal position comes as the NDP tries to frame itself as a credible alternative to the Conservatives in the next federal election.
Poilievre responded to that by releasing a video, pointing out that the NDP has voted time and again in favour of the Liberals’ carbon price.
British Columbia Premier David Eby also changed his tune on Thursday, promising that a re-elected NDP government would scrap the long-standing carbon tax and shift the burden to “big polluters,” if the federal government dropped its requirements.
This report by The Canadian Press was first published Sept. 13, 2024.
Simon Jolin-Barrette, minister responsible for consumer protection, has tabled a bill to force merchants to calculate tips based on the price before tax.
That means on a restaurant bill of $100, suggested tips would be calculated based on $100, not on $114.98 after provincial and federal sales taxes are added.
The bill would also increase the rebate offered to consumers when the price of an item at the cash register is higher than the shelf price, to $15 from $10.
And it would force grocery stores offering a discounted price for several items to clearly list the unit price as well.
Businesses would also have to indicate whether taxes will be added to the price of food products.
This report by The Canadian Press was first published Sept. 12, 2024.
Quebec legislature member Youri Chassin has announced he’s leaving the Coalition Avenir Québec government to sit as an Independent.
He announced the decision shortly after writing an open letter criticizing Premier François Legault’s government for abandoning its principles of smaller government.
In the letter published in Le Journal de Montréal and Le Journal de Québec, Chassin accused the party of falling back on what he called the old formula of throwing money at problems instead of looking to do things differently.
Chassin says public services are more fragile than ever, despite rising spending that pushed the province to a record $11-billion deficit projected in the last budget.
He is the second CAQ member to leave the party in a little more than one week, after economy and energy minister Pierre Fitzgibbon announced Sept. 4 he would leave because he lost motivation to do his job.
Chassin says he has no intention of joining another party and will instead sit as an Independent until the end of his term.
He has represented the Saint-Jérôme riding since the CAQ rose to power in 2018, but has not served in cabinet.
This report by The Canadian Press was first published Sept. 12, 2024.
