'Who is this guy?': Aide who blamed Rep. Sharice Davids for 'racist system' steps down

Monday, August 5, 2019  

A Congressional aide who accused Rep. Sharice Davids (D-Kansas), one of only two Native women on Capitol Hill, of enabling a "racist system" has left the office of Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (D-New York).

Up until Friday, Saikat Chakrabarti served as Ocasio-Cortez's chief of staff following her historic election to Congress. But he didn't last too long after criticizing fellow Democrats for the way they have voted and Democratic leadership for the way they have conducted business in the U.S. House of Representatives.

In one post on social media, Chakrabarti singled out Davids, who is a citizen of the Ho-Chunk Nation, for supporting a bill that included funding for a wall along the U.S. border with Mexico.

"I don't believe Sharice is a racist person, but her votes are showing her to enable a racist system," he wrote on June 27 in a since-deleted tweet that was directed to Julian Brave NoiseCat, a writer and citizen of the Canim Lake Band Tsq'escen and a descendant of the Lil'Wat Nation.

This tweet was in response to someone else's tweet where they specifically brought up Rep. Davids. Why did you leave that out?

I've known Rep. Davids for a long time, consider her a friend, and encouraged her to run for Congress back in the fall of 2016. I'm glad she did. https://t.co/3PNhGeAa3V

— Saikat Chakrabarti (@saikatc) July 13, 2019

The Democratic leadership responded with its own fiery social media post. The tweet also has been deleted but the message was clear: Don't mess with Davids.

"Who is this guy and why is he explicitly singling out a Native American woman of color?" the July 13 post read. "Her name is Congresswoman Davids, not Sharice. She is a phenomenal new member who flipped a red seat blue."

It concluded with a series of emphatic hand clapping emojis: "Keep👏🏾Her👏🏾Name👏🏾Out👏🏾Of👏🏾Your👏🏾Mouth."

In his defense, Chakrabarti on July 12 said he considers Davids to be a "friend" and said he encouraged her to run for Congress. What he left out was that a group he co-founded -- Justice Democrats -- campaigned against her during the Democratic primary in Kansas last year. Ocasio-Cortez also supported the same rival Democratic candidate during the primary.

Chakrabarti is going to be working to advance the Green New Deal, a broad environmental and economic plan, at a group called New Consensus, according to news reports. Incidentally, NoiseCat also works on the Green New Deal at a group called Data for Progress, according to his website.

A second Ocasio-Cortez aide, communications director Corbin Trent, is also leaving Capitol Hill, according to news reports. He will be joining the lawmaker's re-election campaign.

ALEXANDRIA OCASIO-CORTEZ’S CHIEF OF STAFF AND COMMUNICATIONS DIRECTOR WILL DEPART HER OFFICE (The Intercept August 2, 2019)
Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez's chief of staff, spokesman leave her office (POLITICO August 2, 2019)
Embattled Ocasio-Cortez Aides Are Leaving Capitol Hill (The New York Times August 2, 2019)
Ocasio-Cortez’s chief of staff will resign to join group working on Green New Deal (The Washington Post August 2, 2019)
Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez's chief of staff is leaving her office (CNN August 3, 2019)
Feds probing AOC’s chief of staff Saikat Chakrabarti after sudden resignation (The New York Post August 3, 2019)
Ocasio-Cortez's chief of staff exits to push Green New Deal (E&E News August 5, 2019)