Democrats are beginning to flip on their support for Israel’s offensive against Hamas, and on today’s episode of The Editors, National Review senior editor Charles C. W. Cooke said this is the clear result of pressure from the progressive base.
“Liberals, self-described liberals, center-left Americans have been good on this. Progressives have not,” Cooke said. “And those who sit somewhere between the two, or are emissaries of the broader Left, have found themselves on the end of the words and accusations that they normally throw at other people. I think we shouldn’t underestimate how uncomfortable that must make them feel.”
Cooke noted that those on the right are accustomed to hearing accusations of racism, but “that’s not the position that Chris Murphy usually finds himself in. That’s not the position that Joe Biden staffers usually find themselves in. But at the moment, they’re being told that they have been too enthusiastic in the defense of this tyranny that is supposedly Israel.”
He argued this is the reason for their shifting loyalties. “I also think it’s a mistake,” he said. “I’m told that this is in part the product of politics, but as I wrote yesterday, if it is, it’s the product of bad politics. Progressives may have a great deal of power, but they are not in touch with the American public on this.”
The Editors podcast is recorded on Tuesdays and Fridays every week and is available wherever you listen to podcasts.