After they were deemed too anti-Semitic for the Women's March, controversial activists Linda Sarsour and Tamika Mallory have their sights set on a new mission: stopping Republican Daniel Cameron from becoming Kentucky's first black governor.
Sarsour and Mallory announced the campaign during a Monday press conference in Louisville. The pair's social justice organization, Until Freedom, plans to open two offices in Kentucky to register new voters. Activists at the press conference referred to Cameron—the state's first black attorney general—as "Judas" and "Uncle Daniel," a reference to the racist "Uncle Tom" trope that denigrates black men as race traitors. "I would love to see a black man as governor, but not Daniel Cameron," one activist said during the event.
It's unclear if Sarsour and Mallory's presence in the race will help or hurt Cameron. The activists have a controversial past—both were ousted from the anti-Trump group they helped lead, the Women's March, following accusations of anti-Semitism, which the group's founder said "steered the movement away from its true course." Both Sarsour and Mallory have ties to anti-Semitic Nation of Islam leader Louis Farrakhan, who has denounced Jews as "termites" and praised Adolf Hitler as a "very great man." Sarsour spoke at a 2015 event organized by Farrakhan, while Mallory called Farrakhan the "GOAT," or "Greatest of All Time," and has been pictured holding hands with the Nation of Islam leader.
Beyond Sarsour and Mallory, Until Freedom's founding members include other far-left activists. One such member, Angelo Pinto, is a self-proclaimed prison abolitionist. "In a nutshell, what prison abolition is [is] a world without prisons, a world without jails, a world where … this very punitive form of incarceration—or punitive caging, which is really what it is—no longer exists," Pinto said in a 2020 interview.
Until Freedom, which did not return a request for comment, was established in New York City in 2019, according to the group's tax forms. The group went on to host "Days of Rage" against "racist policing." Sarsour went on to move the group to Louisville one year later, pledging to "#OccupyKentucky." Sarsour, Mallory, and Pinto combined to earn $160,000 through the group in 2020, Until Freedom's disclosures show.
Beyond their criticism of Cameron, Until Freedom activists during their Monday press conference praised Kentucky Democratic governor Andy Beshear, saying that while he "isn't perfect," he "has shown us that he is ready to be our governor for four more years." If Beshear is anything like President Joe Biden, he will reject the support.
When Sarsour appeared on a Democratic National Committee livestream in 2020, the Biden campaign denounced her, with a spokesman saying that Biden "condemns her views." That response prompted criticism from far-left congressional Democrats—Michigan congresswoman and "Squad" member Rashida Tlaib said she was "so sick and tired of folks going after [Sarsour] and other Palestinian activists for speaking the truth about oppression and injustice."
Beyond her association with Farrakhan, Sarsour has argued that there's "nothing creepier than Zionism," compared Zionism to "white supremacy," and expressed support for Palestinian terrorists.
Cameron in 2019 became the first black man independently elected statewide in Kentucky, defeating Democrat Greg Stumbo by 15 points in a lopsided attorney general race. Four years later, the Republican is running to unseat Beshear, who in 2019 defeated unpopular GOP incumbent Matt Bevin by less than 1 point to become Kentucky's governor. Cameron cruised to the GOP gubernatorial nomination in May, carrying 47 percent of the vote in a crowded primary field that included 12 candidates. He will face off with Beshear at the polls in November.