Sanders’s Newest Hire Wrote He Hoped the Boston Marathon Bomber Was White

By Andrew Kugle  |  Washington Free Beacon

David Sirota praised Hugo Chavez for creating an ‘economic miracle’ in Venezuela

David Sirota (Robin Marchant/Getty Images)

David Sirota, one of the newest additions to the 2020 Bernie Sanders campaign, once wrote that he hoped the Boston Marathon bomber was a white American.

Two days after the bombing, which killed three people and injured hundreds of others, Sirota argued in an article that Americans should wish the bombers be white because that reality would prevent war and wouldn’t harm the advancement of liberal causes like cutting defense spending and passing immigration reform. The article was published in liberal outlet Salonand was titled, “Let’s hope the Boston Marathon bomber is a white American.”

Sirota wrote in the 2013 article:


If the bomber was white, Sirota said, then white privilege would shield policy debates from any political fallout.



Sirota receive backlash for his article, but he doubled-down with a follow-up piece, published the same day.

“The reason to hope that the bomber is a white American is because in a country where white privilege and double standards so obviously affect our national security reactions, that outcome will better guarantee that the reaction to Boston is a bit more measured,” Sirota wrote.

The bombing was carried out by Kyrgyz-American brothers Dzhokhar Tsarnaev and Tamerlan Tsarnaev. They were motivated by Islamic extremism.

In the same year, Sirota also praised now deceased Venezuelan dictator Hugh Chavez and how he achieved an “economic miracle” in the country by advancing socialism and redistribution of wealth.


He did note that “Chavez was no saint” when it came to human rights but suggested the United States should follow Venezuela’s lead and nationalize some industries.

“For example, the United States has adamantly rejected the concept of nationalization and instead pursued a bailout/subsidy strategy when it comes to rapacious banks and oil companies – and those firms have often gone on to wreak economic havoc. Are there any lessons to be learned from Venezuela’s decision to avoid that subsidization route and instead pursue full-on nationalization?” Sirota wrote.

He continued to criticize the “skyrocketing” poverty rate in the United States, arguing Venezuela had been able to reduce its poverty rate.

This isn’t the first time Sirota has worked for Sen. Bernie Sanders (I., Vt.). When Sanders was a member of the House of Representatives, Sirota was hired as his communications director but was fired soon after. It was discovered Sirota ran a fake website that attributed racially incendiary comments to an opposing candidate when he worked on a campaign for Philadelphia mayor.

The Sanders campaign has also rehired former 2016 aide Claire Sandberg, who supports freshman Rep. Ilhan Omar’s (D., Minn.) comments claiming AIPAC pays off Republican lawmakers.

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