{"id":436073,"date":"2026-08-18T07:50:21","date_gmt":"2026-08-18T07:50:21","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/436073\/"},"modified":"2026-08-18T07:50:21","modified_gmt":"2026-08-18T07:50:21","slug":"will-von-wilpert-flip-a-san-diego-congressional-seat-over-the-uss-lincoln","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/436073\/","title":{"rendered":"Will von Wilpert flip a San Diego congressional seat over the USS Lincoln?"},"content":{"rendered":"

The Communists Are Coming! The Communists Are Coming! No, this isn\u2019t an anniversary tribute to the 1966 Cold War comedy\u00a0The Russians Are Coming the Russians Are Coming<\/a>.\u00a0It\u2019s actually the\u00a0best Red Scare McCarthyism addled 80-year-old Donald Trump<\/a>\u00a0could imagine to demonize his enemies.<\/p>\n

But even\u00a0young people celebrating WorldPride 2026 in Amsterdam<\/a>\u00a0can spot the fatal flaw in Trump\u2019s latest Big Whine:\u00a0Trump loves Russian Communist Vladimir Putin!<\/a><\/p>\n

Nonetheless, the MAGA faithful are parroting Trump\u2019s prattle. Texas\u00a0Sen. Ted Cruz flaunted his ignorance with Fox News host Jesse Watters, dissecting<\/a>\u00a0Michigan\u2019s Democratic Senate primary. Progressive candidate Dr. Abdul El-Sayed consistently led moderate establishment candidate Rep. Haley Stevens in an intensely competitive race to challenge Trump-endorsed Republican former Rep. Mike Rogers for a critical open Senate seat in the Nov. midterm elections.<\/p>\n

\"\"Fox News host Jesse Watters with Sen. Ted Cruz on the Michigan Democratic primary. (Screengrab from Fox News)<\/p>\n

\u201cIs that where the energy is at? They want to cancel Thanksgiving?\u201d Watters asked Cruz.<\/p>\n

Cruz nodded. \u201cThey\u2019re crazy enough, yes. They want to cancel Thanksgiving; they want to cancel Christmas. Look, these communists hate America; they hate capitalism,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n

\u201cYou see the green-red convergence,\u201d Cruz said, \u201cwhere the communists and the Islamists \u2013 they want\u00a0Sharia Law<\/a>. They hate Jews, they hate Christians, they hate capitalism, they hate America. All of this is coming together in a way that is really a toxic stew.\u201d<\/p>\n

El-Sayed, 41, an epidemiologist and former health director for Detroit who\u00a0won LGBTQ+ support last Oct.<\/a>, is\u00a0a Michigan-born son of Egyptian immigrants who\u00a0identifies as a capitalist, not a\u00a0socialist<\/a>, though he holds similar positions as the\u00a0Democratic Socialists of America<\/a>, such as Medicare for All, getting money out of politics, having a democracy powered by the people and abolishing an unaccountable ICE.<\/p>\n

But the Michigan race \u2013 which could also determine control of the Senate and thus confirm Supreme Court nominees \u2013 is also brightly illuminating the role money plays in politics.<\/p>\n

\u201cAbdul\u2019s victory was, in my opinion, the most extraordinary victory that I can think of in modern American politics,\u201d Independent Vermont Sen.\u00a0Bernie Sanders, an early El-Sayed supporter, said after El-Sayed\u2019s incredibly narrow victory<\/a>.<\/p>\n

Sanders\u00a0predicted that the race would \u201cshow the nation whether AIPAC<\/a>\u00a0and other billionaire-funded Super PACs can buy a U.S. Senate seat or whether the people of Michigan can prevail.\u201d<\/p>\n

\"\"Abdul El-Sayed with voters (Photo via El-Sayed for Senate)<\/p>\n

\u201cMoney out of politics\/money in your pockets\u201d became a central tenet of El-Sayed\u2019s campaign.<\/p>\n

\u201cWhat we\u2019re doing is building a movement of the many against the money,\u201d El-Sayed said on the campaign trail. He overcame\u00a0more than $60 million in outside spending<\/a>\u00a0for his opponent \u2013 much from establishment Democrats plus $32 million from the ardently pro-Israel American Israel Public Affairs Committee, or\u00a0AIPAC<\/a>, which has now pledged to fund Rogers, who already holds $45 million in reserves for the midterms.<\/p>\n

After the UN-backed International Criminal Court\u00a0issued arrest warrants in 2024 for Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu<\/a>, former defense minister Yoav Gallant and a former Hamas commander, citing allegations of war crimes and crimes against humanity committed in the Gaza Strip and Israel after Oct. 7, lawmakers started backing away from AIPAC.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe victory in Michigan is a political earthquake,\u201d\u00a0said Beth Miller, Political Director at Jewish Voice for Peace Action<\/a>. \u201cVoters in one of the most consequential states for the 2028 Presidential race have just sent a clear message: they want candidates who will fight for working families at home while unapologetically speaking out for Palestinian freedom. This cycle, AIPAC is being relegated to the dustbin of history.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cAIPAC never runs on AIPAC. They never even talk about Israel and Palestine,\u201d former Rep. Andy Levin\u00a0told AP.\u00a0<\/a>AIPAC spent millions opposing Levin, who is Jewish. \u201cIf you\u2019re just a voter and you see a million ads, you don\u2019t know who paid for it.\u201d<\/p>\n

Some of AIPAC\u2019s money went specifically into disinformation ads and mailers\u00a0asserting that El-Sayed is disrespectful to women<\/a>.<\/p>\n

Sarah Jukaku, El-Sayed\u2019s wife, suggested that he was being targeted because he is running to be\u00a0the first Muslim in the Senate<\/a>.<\/p>\n

\u201cThere\u2019s such a subtle way of otherizing someone. When you\u2019re like a brown guy or Muslim guy, you know, the easiest thing to tack on to you is sexism, right?\u201d\u00a0Juaku told the Washington Post.<\/a>\u00a0\u201cThat\u2019s not how he is\u2026It feels so unfair.\u201d<\/p>\n

El-Sayed\u2019s blunt critique of Israel deserves a second look, Jay Michaelson wrote\u00a0Aug. 5 in the Jewish Independent outlet Forward<\/a>.<\/p>\n

\u201cYes, like\u00a0New York City Mayor Zohran Mamdani<\/a>, El-Sayed is a young, Muslim progressive. But his views are markedly different \u2014 and, to my mind, more sophisticated and more nuanced. In fact, I agree with them,\u201d\u00a0Michaelson wrote<\/a>.<\/p>\n

The columnist cites El-Sayed\u2019s\u00a0interview with New Yorker editor-in-chief David Remnick<\/a>, who asked: \u201cDoes Israel have a right to exist?\u2026[W]hat is your hope for a resolution in the Middle East?\u2026 What underlies your sense of the situation there?\u201d<\/p>\n

Michaelson was taken with El-Sayed\u2019s response, \u201cwhich, itself, should inspire confidence\u2026.After noting that in Michigan, \u2018there are communities where the median income is fourteen thousand dollars a year. And those kids go without good schools, and those kids go without functional infrastructure,\u2019 El-Sayed continued:<\/p>\n

\u2018I believe in equal rights to peace, dignity, and self-determination, for Palestinians and Jewish Israelis alike. And I believe that it is not my job as an American policymaker to decide what the ultimate peace should be. But it is my job to make sure that our resources are stewarded correctly for the people I\u2019m responsible for: those kids going to those broken schools.\u2019\u201d<\/p>\n

El-Sayed continued, noting the \u201ckind of hypocrisy\u201d of how the \u201cvery same people who tell you you have to believe in a two-state solution are constantly aiding, arming, and abetting an Israeli government that has been dead set on foreclosing on the possibility of a Palestinian state since we\u2019ve been funding them.\u201d<\/p>\n

So, El-Sayed says, he\u2019s \u201cnot going to play the cosplay thing, where I allow the money that should be spent taking care of our kids to be sent to a military that has done a genocide \u2014 at baseline, does apartheid, and is now attempting the annexation of southern Lebanon \u2014 to foreclose on the possibility of Palestinian self-determination.\u201d<\/p>\n

El-Sayed\u2019s job now is to unify Democrats to defeat Rogers,\u00a0who has already unleashed Islamophobic attack ads<\/a>\u00a0using El-Sayed\u2019s whole name as if it was a slur.<\/p>\n

\u201cThey want to use my whole name against me,\u201d\u00a0El-Sayed said in response<\/a>. \u201cMike, listen, man. If you can\u2019t say the name, it\u2019s Abdulrahman; keep the name out your damn mouth.\u201d<\/p>\n

In response to Trump\u00a0blasting him during a campaign stop in Las Vegas<\/a>, El-Sayed told MS NOW: \u201cMy commitment to Jewish safety is the same as my commitment to the safety of my own kids. We have a responsibility to take on antisemitism in all of its forms, wherever we see it. It\u2019s the same responsibility we have to take on Islamophobia.\u201d<\/p>\n

Michigan State Sen. Mallory McMorrow told MS NOW\u2019s Nicole Wallace that El-Sayed called her immediately after she\u00a0ended her campaign<\/a>\u00a0on July 5. They had a good, hard conversation and \u201cfound a shared \u2018why\u2019 in our daughters.\u201d She endorsed him quickly, as did his opponent, Rep. Haley Stevens, who hugged El-Sayed at Wednesday morning\u2019s Unity Breakfast.<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/p>\n

Meanwhile, appearing onstage with Trump, Mike Rogers said the next senator must be \u201csomebody who doesn\u2019t obstruct the President\u2019s agenda.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cThe stakes couldn\u2019t be higher,\u201d McMorrow said. \u201cIt\u2019s Michigan vs MAGA. That\u2019s it. That\u2019s the fight we\u2019re fighting.\u201d<\/p>\n

\"\"Abdul El-Sayed unity rally Aug. 6, 2026 (screenshot BBC)<\/p>\n

She also noted that 1.5 million Democrats turned out to vote in the primary. \u201cThe only way we win is together,\u201d said McMorrow, adding that Michigan Democrats are showing that unity \u201cdoesn\u2019t have to be hard. We don\u2019t have to tear each other down. We can lock arms, and we can take our country back.\u201d<\/p>\n

\"\"Amsterdam Pride Canal (Photo courtesy Michael Key\/Washington Blade)<\/p>\n

Meanwhile, almost 4,000 miles east of Detroit, in Amsterdam, Netherlands, International News Editor Michael K. Lavers and Photo Editor Michael Key covered WorldPride 2026 for the Washington Blade and the Los Angeles Blade. (See a\u00a0compilation of photos here<\/a>.)<\/p>\n

Highlights included Queen M\u00e1xima, Amsterdam Mayor Femke Halsema and several drag queens participating in the World Pride opening ceremony on July 25 in Amsterdam\u2019s Vondelpark.<\/p>\n

But the ceremony happened on the same day as\u00a0an \u201cIslamist terrorist attack\u201d on<\/a>\u00a0thousands attending the annual Christopher Street Day, a major Pride festival in Berlin, Germany, that is among the biggest in Europe. The attack left 1 dead and 29 injured. A memorial service and rally took place in\u00a0Berlin on Sunday, Lavers reported<\/a>, after the Pride festival was cancelled. The primary suspect was later killed in a confrontation with police.<\/p>\n

Security measures were bolstered for WorldPride 2026, and\u00a0dignitaries and activists expressed their anger<\/a>.<\/p>\n

\u201cThis is an attack on our society,\u201d German Chancellor Friedrich Merz\u00a0wrote on X<\/a>\u00a0early Sunday morning,\u00a0the New York Times reported.<\/a><\/p>\n

In an email, Lavers wrote that \u201cthe attack in Berlin was definitely on folks\u2019 minds, but to our knowledge there were no security incidents. There were a lot of expressions of solidarity among folks in Amsterdam.\u201d<\/p>\n

Lavers also said he felt there was more solidarity towards Americans fighting for democracy.<\/p>\n

\u201cThere was, IMHO, a definite feeling among folks at Amsterdam Pride that they are aware of what\u2019s happening in the U.S. and are unhappy about it,\u201d he said. \u201cIt\u2019s important to note that things in Europe vary in terms of LGBTQ rights, depending upon the country. All that said,\u00a0there was a real sense of celebration of diversity at Saturday\u2019s parade<\/a>\u00a0(with Netherlands\u2019 out gay Prime Minister Rob Jetten on one of the boats)\u2026and\u00a0joy at the Madonna set<\/a>\u00a0that\u00a0I was fortunate enough to attend<\/a>. I suppose that can equate to defiance.<\/p>\n

Lavers also noted, \u201cI have traveled to Europe several times with Trump in office, and not once did anyone treat me badly because I am an American. Folks definitely make the distinction between Americans and the government.\u201d<\/p>\n

\"\"Pink Pony at WorldPride 2026 (Photo by Michael Key\/Washington Blade)<\/p>\n

West Hollywood showed up for WorldPride, too. The Pink Pony Club sign is a reference to the popular song by Chappell Roan, says Michael Key. Roan says that \u201cPink Pony Club<\/a>\u201d was inspired by a\u00a0\u201ctransformative\u201d night at The Abbey in West Hollywood<\/a>.<\/p>\n

Madonna, who headlined World Pride Music Festival,\u00a0appeared<\/a>\u00a0at The Abbey in April. Tristan Schukraft bought the famous spot from founder David Cooley for a reported $27 million in 2023. Since then he also developed MISTR, a telehealth platform that offers free access to PrEP, Doxy PEP, STI testing, and long-term HIV care,\u00a0according to Lavers.<\/a>\u00a0MISTR has organized Madonna\u2019s Club Confessions shows in the U.S. and the U.K.<\/p>\n

\u201c\u2019Mother is here, and this is gay heaven,\u2019 said Madonna when she took the stage inside Amsterdam\u2019s AFAS Live concert hall that can hold up to 6,000 people,\u201d Lavers reported. She was later joined by Kylie Minogue.<\/p>\n

\u201cThroughout my career, I\u2019ve always supported efforts to fight HIV and AIDS, and that fight begins with education and access,\u201d said Madonna in a MISTR press release. With MISTR is \u201chelping preserve and strengthen LGBTQ+ spaces while investing in the communities and culture that have long sustained us.\u201d<\/p>\n

\"\"Dutch Prime Minister Rob Jetten speaks at the World Pride Human Rights Conference in Amsterdam on Aug. 5, 2026. (Washington Blade photo by Michael Key)<\/p>\n

Among several history-making moments was\u00a0Dutch Prime Minister Rob Jetten\u2019s Aug. 5 remarks opening<\/a>\u00a0the World Pride Human Rights Conference<\/p>\n

Jetten, who\u00a0became the country\u2019s first openly gay prime minister<\/a>\u00a0in February, acknowledged that the\u00a0terrorist attack at Berlin\u2019s Christopher Street Day<\/a>\u00a0\u201cfilled me with anger and sorrow,\u201d Lavers reported. He noted that 2026 marks the 25th\u00a0anniversary of marriage equality in the Netherlands, the first country to extend marriage rights to same-sex couples. Last year marked\u00a0Amsterdam Pride\u2019s Canal <\/a>Parade\u2019s 30th year.<\/p>\n

\u201cMore and more in recent years, we\u2019ve seen hard-won progress being eroded,\u201d Jetten said. \u201cWe\u2019ve seen countries backsliding in equal rights legislation. We\u2019ve seen homophobic hate speech becoming more overt and aggressive, and not only out in the real world, but online as well.\u201d<\/p>\n

Additionally, \u201conline hatred is one of the biggest threats facing the LGBTQIA+ people today,\u201d he said. \u201cAll around the world \u2026 misinformation and disinformation can be spread in the blink of an eye with a single mouse click, reaching much further and much faster than NGOs, youth workers and health organizations can.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cThis is always how hatred takes hold,\u201d Jetten said, \u201cFirst in the shadows, outside the spotlight of society, underestimated by everyone, until, having grown into a many-headed monster, it crawls out of the darkness.\u201d<\/p>\n

He announced a three-year investment of what amounts to US $8.64 million each year \u201cin improving the safety of the queer community in our cities with an alliance of organizations committed to safety, both in the public space and in the workspace for LGBTQI+ people, and with a public information campaign to combat discrimination and disinformation.\u201d<\/p>\n

He also looked at\u00a0LGBTQ+ rights globally. \u201cUnder the pretense of resisting so-called Western moral decadence, horrendous laws are enacted and promoted, laws that put the rights of free people under severe pressure,\u201d Jetten said. \u201cBut in reality, many communities in these countries have a long history of diversity and freedom, and the laws that impose the restrictions were in fact put in place by the colonial powers.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cNo matter how hard those conservative forces try to pull the wool over people\u2019s eyes, queer communities around the world know that equal rights are not a Western agenda,\u201d added Jetten. \u201cThey are first and foremost a human agenda.\u201d (See a complete\u00a0transcript of Jetten\u2019s remarks here<\/a>.)<\/p>\n

For Lavers,\u00a0dancing to Madonna made him feel free<\/a>: \u201cFor those few precious hours at AFAS Live, I did not think about the Trump-Vance administration and the myriad ways it is destroying the U.S. I did not think about the National Guard troops deployed to D.C. I did not think about the pointless wars that continue to ravage Ukraine and other countries around the world. I simply lost myself on the dance floor and celebrated an icon who has always stood with my community. Thank you, Madonna.\u201d<\/p>\n

Almost 4,000 miles between Amsterdam and Detroit \u2013 and yet the pain, loss, hope, joy, and promise of freedom feel like the dawning of a new counter-cultural movement.<\/p>\n

Check out Karen Ocamb\u2019s\u00a0LGBTQ+ Freedom Fighters Podcast<\/a>.<\/p>\n

This is a cross-post from Karen\u2019s\u00a0LGBTQ+ Freedom Fighters Substack<\/a>.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"The Communists Are Coming! The Communists Are Coming! No, this isn\u2019t an anniversary tribute to the 1966 Cold…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":436074,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[28],"tags":[173100,93,173101,19099,19100,167874,66843,76355,13,173102,129894,74,76,75,31513,42452],"class_list":["post-436073","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-san-diego","tag-equality-act","tag-featured","tag-hiv-epidemic","tag-lgbtq-representation","tag-lgbtq-visibility","tag-lgbtq-freedom-fighters","tag-los-angeles-blade","tag-marni-von-wilpert","tag-politics","tag-pro-act","tag-queer-politician","tag-san-diego","tag-san-diego-headlines","tag-san-diego-news","tag-service-members","tag-uss-abraham-lincoln"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/436073","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=436073"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/436073\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/436074"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=436073"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=436073"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=436073"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}