Washington Post reporter David Weigel on Tuesday said accusations Rep. Keith Ellison (D., Minn.) abused a former girlfriend threaten to damage not just him but also the Democratic Party.
Weigel said rumors of Ellison’s behavior floated around Minnesota in recent weeks before a viral Facebook post publicly alleged he abused former girlfriend Karen Monahan. The post, by Monahan’s son Austin Aslim Monahan, claims she lived through "pure hell" with Ellison, who denied the charge and is continuing his campaign for Minnesota attorney general.
Ellison is the favorite to win the Democratic Party primary, which is being held Tuesday, and Weigel said the party is "kind of whistling past the graveyard." A sexual misconduct scandal felled the state’s popular Democratic Sen. Al Franken, who resigned at the start of the year, and the allegations against Ellison may pose a similar problem.
"He did not win the party's convention, but because of the early votes cast for weeks, he is the heavy favorite to get the nomination today and the party is kind of whistling past the graveyard here because if he is the nominee and if this becomes a toxic scandal the way it did for Al Franken, it is hard to get him off of the ballot and replace him," Weigel said.
"It is hard to get him off of the ballot and replace him," Weigel added, saying it would be difficult to dethrone a "hero of the left who has been pretty successful in uniting the factions of the base in Minnesota."
Weigel noted Ellison’s complicated past and the fact that the accuser in this case is not releasing a tape that, according to the Facebook post and Monahan, shows Ellison dragging Monahan off a bed and shouting profanities at her. Minnesota Democrats have not had much of a response.
"Democrats in the state have kind of bit their tongues, and they have not said much of anything about Ellison," Weigel said.
During the Franken scandal, state Democrats did not call for him to resign despite photographic evidence and half a dozen allegations from different women. Many still defend the former senator.
Despite prior allegations of abuse and his ties to anti-Semitic leaders, Ellison has been a popular figure in the Democratic Party, rising to be deputy chairman of the Democratic National Committee. Weigel said Ellison may not be a sought-after speaker and endorser for much longer.