Biden VP Frontrunner Karen Bass Described Top Communist Party USA Official As Her ‘Mentor’
Rep. Karen Bass, a frontrunner to become presumptive Democratic presidential nominee Joe Biden’s running mate, described former Communist Party USA official Oneil Marion Cannon as her “mentor” when she eulogized him in 2017.
“Oneil was instrumental in supporting my own work as a community organizer early in my life, and without his help my life would have taken a very different path,” Bass said in her eulogy, which she inserted into the Congressional Record.
Bass, a California Democrat, also described Cannon as her “friend and mentor” in the eulogy, which was first unearthed by Politico on Tuesday.
“As a member of the Communist Party USA, he became the education director in the Southern California District, and a member of the Party’s Southern California and National Central Committees,” communist publication People’s World reported in its February 2017 obituary of Cannon.
“Karen Bass has always been a Democrat and only a Democrat. The Congresswoman is friends with Kevin McCarthy and is not a Republican. She knew Oneil Cannon but never shared the political ideology he may have had at one time in his life,” Bass spokesman Zach Seidl told Politico.
Seidl didn’t return the Daily Caller News Foundation’s request for further comment.
Bass’s political past has come under closer scrutiny while undergoing vetting as a possible vice presidential candidate.
Bass appeared at events linked to the Nation of Islam and posed for a photo with a top Nation of Islam official, the Daily Caller News Foundation reported on Monday.
A spokesman for Bass told the DCNF that the congresswoman has no ties to the Nation of Islam, but wouldn’t address a question of whether Bass is willing to denounce the radical group.
Bass also praised the scandal-ridden Church of Scientology at a ribbon-cutting ceremony for a Scientology church in 2010, as the DCNF first reported on July 31.
“This day and this new Church of Scientology is an exciting moment because I know your goal and your commitment is truly to make a difference,” Bass told attendees at the ceremony.
“The Church of Scientology I know has made a difference, because your creed is a universal creed and one that speaks to all people everywhere,” she added, going on to praise Scientology founder L. Ron Hubbard.
Bass responded to the DCNF’s story on Saturday. “Ten years ago, I attended a new building opening in my district and spoke to what I think all of us believe in — respect for one another’s views, to treat all people with respect, and to fight against oppression wherever we find it,” she said in a statement posted to Twitter.
“I found an area of agreement in their beliefs — where all people, of whatever race, color, or creed are created with equal rights, which is what my remarks were about,” she added.
COLUMN BY
PETER HASSON
Editor.
RELATED TWEET:
BIDEN: "No, I haven't taken a test. Why the hell would I take a test? C'mon man. That's like saying you, before you got in this program, if you take a test where you're taking cocaine or not, what do you think huh? Are you a junkie?" pic.twitter.com/f6UMPJq381
— Trump War Room (@TrumpWarRoom) August 5, 2020
RELATED ARTICLES:
Portland Police Officially Declare ‘Unlawful Assembly’ As Protests Continue
A Woman Reportedly Stabbed A Protester In Portland After An Argument
Portland Teenager Faces Assault Charges After Allegedly Setting Off Explosive Device
EDITORS NOTE: This Daily Caller column is republished with permission. ©All rights reserved. Content created by The Daily Caller News Foundation is available without charge to any eligible news publisher that can provide a large audience. For licensing opportunities of our original content, please contact licensing@dailycallernewsfoundation.org.
No surprise. Back in the early 60s, Communist Party USA realized they would never be able to put a viable candidate for the presidency, although they tried every elections. The decision was made to stop trying and just support and infiltrate the Democrat Party with their people. Lately we have seen the fruits of that strategy, at all levels of politics. I wouldn’t be surprised if soon the DNC puts up a self declared communist presidential candidate, like Di Basio for example. The Bernie, AOC, Gillam and so many others have opted to call themselves socialist merely to no sound such objectional to Americans. But lately, the DNC has become more brazen in their desperation for power.