Democrats Are Silent About Odessa Kelly’s Pro-Violence Remarks

"Nancy Pelosi in Ghana" (Public domain) by U.S. Embassy Ghana

Justice Democrats, as well as Democratic members of Congress, have been silent days after Odessa Kelly’s pro-violence statements.

Odessa Kelly, a progressive congressional candidate from Tennessee who is supported by Justice Democrats has history of inflammatory remarks as well as social media posts. Her remarks includes inciting violence against Republican lawmakers where she stated that Pelosi should hire pimp to beat up Ted Cruz.

On the day of Biden’s inauguration, Kelly who is staging a primary challenge against Rep. Jim Cooper (D-Tenn), posted a list of suggested agenda items for the new Biden administration during its first 100 days. 

The list includes standard Democratic wishes such as stimulus checks, packing the Supreme Court, student loan forgiveness and so on. However, what is striking is how Kelly joked about attacking Republican leaders. 

Kelly wrote, “Day 9: Allow Pelosi to hire the best pimp that Memphis or Detroit has to offer to Smack tha [emoji] outta Ted Cruz and the rest uv’em…(y’all know the ones)!”

Included in the list were disturbing suggestions that Kelly specifically listed such as “Day 4: Blow Up Maralago,” relating to Trump’s Florida resort and residence, and “Day 5: Disappear Mitch to some secret CIA prison.”

Other than her recent “jokes”, Kelly’s Facebook also shows history of similarly related posts such as a post in April 2012 where she gave account on how she was attending a speech being delivered by anti-Semitic Nation of Islam leader Louis Farrakhan and a May 2020 post declaring, “If you vote for Trump, YOU ARE A RACIST!”

On the other hand, Justice Democrats praised Kelly after she launched her campaign.

Last Tuesday, Justice Democrats spokesperson Alexandra Rojas praised Kelly. Rojas wrote on Twitter, “As someone who has spent her life as a public servant and a community organizer, @OdessaKellyTN is exactly the kind of Democrat we need in Congress.”

Meanwhile, Republican Senator Ted Cruz and Kelly sparred on Twitter last Tuesday after Cruz described 

Kelly as “the angry, violent Left.”

Kelly responded on Twitter and stated, “You told people to storm the Capitol. Then they listened to you and did. Get outta here with this. I can’t wait to get to Washington and take on Ted Cruz’s agenda of division, greed, and straight up clownery. It’s time for fundamental change.”

Kelly is aiming to join progressive lawmakers like Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez and Jamaal Bowman, who were elected to Congress after they defeated veteran moderate Democrats. According to Kelly’s campaign website, they described her positions as consistent with the far-left wing of the Democratic Party, calling for the Green New Deal, “Medicare-for-all” and a ban and registry for assault weapons.

The progressive group that supported Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez in 2018 are aiming to unveil its first moderate Democratic target of the 2022 election cycle. 

On Monday, they announced that they are backing progressive organizer Odessa Kelly in her primary challenge against longtime Democratic Rep. Jim Cooper of Tennessee.

Kelly, took aim at the 66-year-old Cooper’s record of fiscally conservative votes in the House when she announced her campaign.

Kelly said, “We need more pathways out of poverty, and the status quo is no longer good enough,” a co-founder and executive director of the liberal group Stand Up Nashville. 

She added, “I know how to build coalitions that get results, and I’m running for Congress so that we can make bold, ambitious change at the national level.”

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