So it seems calling out isms is a partisan activity.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Well, at least for Republicans it is.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Now of course that\u2019s nothing new for the people over at Fox News (or as I like to call them, Faux Noise), but I\u2019m being reminded it\u2019s pretty much a part of the overall Republican playbook. Let\u2019s take Jennifer Carnahan Hagedorn, chair of the Minnesota Republican Party and her new BFF, President Donald Trump. <\/p>\n\n\n\n
In a flurry of Feb. 11 posts on her social media (personal and official GOP pages) Carnahan Hagedorn railed against Rep. Ilhan Omar, representative of Minnesota\u2019s 5th<\/sup> District, for a retweet where some felt the freshman congresswoman implied a pro-Israel lobbying group\u2019s support for the Middle-Eastern nation is motivated by money. Here caption for the original tweet was \u201cAll About the Benjamins.\u201d The implication was seen as anti-Semitic because throughout the years those of the Jewish faith have been accused of being inordinately motivated by money. Omar almost immediately apologized for the remark stating, \u201cAnti-Semitism is real and I am grateful for Jewish allies and colleagues who are educating me on the painful history of anti-Semitic tropes. My intention is never to offend my constituents or Jewish Americans as a whole. We have to always be willing to step back a think through criticism, just as I expect people to hear me when others attack me for my identity. This is why I unequivocally apologize.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n Omar\u2019s apology wasn\u2019t enough for Carnahan Hagedorn nor Carnahan Hagedorn\u2019s buddy, Trump \u2013 a man who began his campaign for president by stating Barack Obama was born in Kenya, who used racist language against Native-Americans, called white supremacists \u201cvery fine people,\u201d called Haiti and Africa \u201csh*thole countries\u201d and said his celebrity status was license for sexual assault. Despite all that, both Carnahan Hagedorn and Trump called for Omar\u2019s resignation.<\/p>\n\n\n\n To quote \u201cSaturday Night Live\u201d character, The Church Lady, \u201cWell isn\u2019t that special.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n Carnahan Hagedorn has quickly ascended the ranks of the GOP. Asked to run against Sen. Bobby Joe Champion (DFL-59) in 2016 so Champion wouldn\u2019t run unopposed, Carnahan Hagedorn obliged and fell into the good graces of the state Republican Party, pulling of a surprise win in her bid to chair the state GOP. Initially viewed as a moderate Republican, Carnahan Hagedorn quickly pivoted hard right and fell in line behind the party\u2019s national leader; a man known as Individual One in criminal documents. Her loyalty to Trump was rewarded this past January when she was named to his Advisory Council on Asian Americans and Pacific Islanders.<\/p>\n\n\n\n So for sure, Carnahan Hagedorn\u2019s star is on the rise despite the fact Republicans lost the state House this past November, Democrats won all statewide seats (both U.S. Senate seats, governor\/lieutenant governor, attorney general, secretary of state and auditor) and Republicans lost U.S. House seats in Districts 2 and 3.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Republicans did, however, pick up seats in Districts 1 and 8, so a net wash there, but some within her party were critical, wondering if too much time was focused on the race in District 1, the seat vacated by Tim Walz, who successful ran for governor. In that race Carnahan Hagedorn\u2019s husband, Rep. Jim Hagedorn prevailed.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Nonetheless, Carnahan Hagedorn has a strong voice in the Republican Party, and she\u2019s using it \u2026 well sometimes.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Although Virginia is more than 1,000 miles away, it wasn\u2019t far from Carnahan Hagedorn\u2019s thoughts when she released an official statement calling for a Democrat\u2019s resignation. Rightfully so, Carnahan Hagedorn called on Virginia Gov. Ralph Northam to resign when it was revealed a photo on his medical school yearbook page contained one man in blackface and another in a Ku Klux Klan robe and hood.<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cElected officials hold the trust of those they serve and are held to a higher standard than the average American \u2013 a standard that Governor Ralph Northam no longer fits. Following Northam\u2019s spin, denials and pivots, it is evident he refuses to take responsibility and step aside. But enough is enough. We must stand united as Minnesotans, as Americans, and show that this sort of racism will not be tolerated. We call on Minnesota\u2019s delegation, regardless of political affiliation, to speak out against Governor Northam\u2019s actions and words, and urge him to step down,\u201d wrote Carnahan Hagedorn.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Showing \u201cthis sort of racism will not be tolerated\u201d seems to be quite selective.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Much closer to home, Minnesota\u2019s southern neighboring state of Iowa has its own unabashed racist who Carnahan Hagedorn (and Trump) refuses to condemn; Republican Rep. Steve King. King, thought of throughout his tenure in office as a racist, made it plain last month when he told the New York Times<\/em> there\u2019s nothing wrong with being a white nationalist and white supremist. But shockingly (insert sarcasm), Carnahan Hagedorn (nor Trump) has yet to offer the same condemnation offered for those who have a \u201cD\u201d as their party affiliation.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Let\u2019s be clear, Omar and Northam should not be viewed through the same lens. Omar made a statement, \u201cAll about the Benjamins,\u201d which could be interpreted \u2013and has been by some within the Jewish faith \u2013 as a Jewish slight. Northam appeared either in blackface or a Klan outfit. Also, keep in mind Northam admitted to at least one other time wearing blackface; and during an interview with Gayle King that aired Feb. 9 on CBS, the Virginia governor referred to the brutal practice of American slavery as a time of \u201cindentured servitude\u201d \u2013 a characterization King corrected and called it what it was; slavery.<\/p>\n\n\n\n But if we\u2019re in the business of calling out isms, let\u2019s be consistent and call them all out \u2013 Trump\u2019s and King\u2019s included. Jennifer Carnahan Hagedorn, are you willing to use your elevated platform to do that?<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" So it seems calling out isms is a partisan activity. Well, at least for Republicans it is. Now of course that\u2019s nothing new for the people over at Fox News (or as I like to call them, Faux Noise), but I\u2019m being reminded it\u2019s pretty much a part of the overall Republican playbook. Let\u2019s take […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":3,"featured_media":4668,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_et_pb_use_builder":"off","_et_pb_old_content":"","_et_gb_content_width":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[9],"tags":[760,29,2417],"class_list":["post-4667","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-opinion","tag-fox-news","tag-minnesota","tag-rep-ilhan-omar","et-has-post-format-content","et_post_format-et-post-format-standard"],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"https:\/\/apexsamplework.com\/insightnews\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/08\/Insight-News-Website-Images-21.jpg","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/apexsamplework.com\/insightnews\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/4667","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/apexsamplework.com\/insightnews\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/apexsamplework.com\/insightnews\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/apexsamplework.com\/insightnews\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/3"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/apexsamplework.com\/insightnews\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=4667"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/apexsamplework.com\/insightnews\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/4667\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":4669,"href":"https:\/\/apexsamplework.com\/insightnews\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/4667\/revisions\/4669"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/apexsamplework.com\/insightnews\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/4668"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/apexsamplework.com\/insightnews\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=4667"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/apexsamplework.com\/insightnews\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=4667"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/apexsamplework.com\/insightnews\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=4667"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}