 Representative Steny Hoyer is basically one of the worst, if not the worst, when it comes to right-wing corporate Democrats. And what makes matters worse is that he's actually in line to be the next House Speaker. So he's in Democratic Party leadership and he is incredibly right-wing. But on top of that, he decided to do what leadership in the Democratic Party theoretically shouldn't do and take some swipes at newly elected freshman Congresswoman Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, Rashida Tlaib, and Ilhan Omar. And what he ended up doing here was proving Ilhan Omar right. So as Jake Johnson of Common Dreams reports, Representative Steny Hoyer, the number two Democrat in the House, came under fire from progressives Sunday night after he used his address at APAC's policy conference to attack left-wing members of his caucus and throw his full support behind a resolution condemning the boycott divestment and sanctions movement. I stand with Israel, proudly and unapologetically, said the Democrat from Maryland, whose remarks were immediately interpreted as a thinly veiled attack on Representative Ilhan Omar. So when somebody accuses American supporters of Israel of dual loyalty, I say, accuse me. I am part of a large bipartisan coalition in Congress supporting Israel. I tell Israel's detractors, accuse us. There are 62 freshman Democrats, not three. Hoyer added in an apparent swipe at representatives Rashida Tlaib, Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, and Ilhan Omar. So let's just take a moment to go back to what Ilhan Omar initially said, that everyone deemed as anti-Semitic. She basically asked if we're allowed to call out the monetary influence of gigantic lobbying groups and special interests like the NRA. Why can I not talk about the influence and lobbying power that APAC has? And he just proved how much influence APAC has by calling her out at their conference. So I think that the irony is probably lost on him. And I know that he thinks he's making a solid point, but all he's doing is proving Ilhan Omar right, because as he pledges unequivocal loyalty to Israel, it's obvious that his views were probably influenced by the pro-Israel lobby, which he took more than a million dollars from throughout the course of his career. So why is it reasonable for us to say it's pretty apparent that the NRA influences the Republican Party's position when it comes to gun reform, but we're not allowed to say that American lawmakers' stance on Israel is likely influenced by a very powerful lobby. Why is that not allowed? Because money and politics influences the positions of lawmakers. That's not me saying this. Because you can look to probably one of the most cited studies in recent years by Gilan's and Page of Princeton University, where they found that when you juxtapose our interests, interests of normal Americans with the interests of elites and special interests, well, they have an impact on policy outcomes, whereas we do not have an impact on policy outcomes. Our impact is statistically insignificant, which tells us that money, in fact, does have a gigantic influence on policy outcomes. And taking it a step further, if you go to Dara Strolovich, who wrote the book Affirmative Advocacy, what she revealed was that these interest groups are often driven by elites. And the reason why elites are driving these interest groups and shape the interests of the overall interest group is because they're funding these interest groups. So it's not controversial at all to say that we need to be looking at the impact the pro-Israel lobby has on lawmakers. It's not because money and politics affects lawmakers. And to give you another example as to how that influences Steny Hoyer specifically, he took 2.1 million from health professionals, 1 million from the pharmaceutical industry, and coincidentally, he doesn't support Medicare for All. I think we're reasonable to deduce that those campaign contributions, which pose a direct conflict of interest, has something to do with the political position that he's taking, because he knows if he endorses Medicare for All, those health industry donors that he has will be less likely to support him. In fact, they may support a potential opponent. But now that we're taking the time here to shine a light on just how bad Steny Hoyer is, I think it's worth noting that he's also terrible basically all around. He supported the Iraq War. He supported the Patriot Act. He has basically been against ending the drug war. And if he were just one lone lawmaker who was very conservative, that wouldn't necessarily be a problem. But again, he is in line to become the next House Speaker, which would be horrible for trying to push the Overton window to the left and get the Democratic Party to be more progressive. So I've maintained before that we've got to oust Steny Hoyer before he even gets there. And thankfully, I have some very good news. We have a chance to do that because Steny Hoyer is being primaried by a progressive named Makayla Wilkes. And unlike Steny Hoyer, she actually does support progressive policies like Medicare for All and the Green New Deal. And if you go to her website, she already has a preliminary policy platform that's more fleshed out than a lot of presidential candidates. So if you support her, then I would strongly encourage you to send her a donation. Go to Makayla2020.com to do so and show her your support at Meet Makayla on Twitter. And be sure to do what you can to get involved, because if she's actually going to be successful at Joe Crowley and Steny Hoyer, which would be amazing, it's going to be the fight of our lives. This will be harder than Joe Crowley. So it's difficult to oust incumbent Democrats, but it is especially difficult to oust individuals in Democratic leadership. It's one of the most powerful individuals which really makes Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez's DeVito Joe Crowley that much more remarkable when you think back about it, because it was so unlikely and it seemed impossible almost. So if we want Makayla to have a shot, this has to be an all-hands-on-deck approach. We've got to make sure that she has our full support, because she is someone who chose to be bold and to step up and challenge the establishment at its time when the DCCC is trying to blacklist consulting firms in order to discourage individuals from jumping in and primaring incumbent Democrats. So what she's doing here is bold and most importantly, it's brave. So please show her your support, send her a contribution, follow her on Twitter and tell her that Mike from the Humanist Report sent you, because I definitely am interested in bringing her on the show. This is what needs to happen. And she's sending a message to Steny Hoyer that just because you're in leadership, it doesn't mean that you're untouchable and it doesn't mean that you can attack the left from the right when you're supposed to be a leader in the Democratic Party. So I am 100% behind Makayla's campaign and I really hope that she can give Steny Hoyer a run for his money, but mark my words, this is not going to be the last that you hear about Makayla. She's our shot to stop Steny Hoyer from ever becoming House Speaker, which is important because, believe it or not, he's to the right of Nancy Pelosi, if you can imagine. He's basically one of the worst and we've got to stop him at all costs from rising to the top of the ranks in Democratic leadership and you can do that by helping his opponent, Makayla Wilkes. There's a Patriot, if that was my podcast, said.