CNN’s Don Lemon complains Sinema, Manchin are ‘acting as Republicans’
CNN’s Don Lemon complains Sinema, Manchin are ‘acting as Republicans’
Senator Kyrsten Sinema, D-Ari., fired back after far-left activists recorded her in an Arizona State University bathroom, calling the behavior unacceptable and bashing the confrontation as an illegitimate protest.
Sinema unloaded on the group of activists, saying they "filmed and publicly posted videos" of her students "without their permission" as well as "footage taken of both my students and I using a restroom."
SINEMA CONFRONTED BY IMMIGRATION ACTIVISTS IN A BATHROOM
"It is unacceptable for activist organizations to instruct their members to jeopardize themselves by engaging in unlawful activities such as gaining entry to closed university buildings, disrupting learning environments, and filming students in a restroom," Sinema said in a Monday press release.
"In the 19 years I have been teaching at ASU, I have been committed to creating a safe and intellectually challenging environment for my students," the senator continued. "Yesterday, that environment was breached. My students were unfairly and unlawfully victimized. This is wholly inappropriate."
Sinema added that it is "the duty of elected leaders to avoid fostering an environment in which honestly-held policy disagreements serve as the basis for vitriol -- raising the temperature in political rhetoric and creating a permission structure for unacceptable behavior."
Sinema was confronted by immigration activists who followed the senator from the classroom where she teaches at Arizona State University to the bathroom while demanding the Arizona Democrat take action on a "pathway to citizenship."
"We knocked on doors for you to get you elected. Just how we got you elected, we can get you out of office if you don't support what you promised us," one of the activists said to Sinema in the video that was recorded with a phone.
The activists first confronted Sinema at her ASU classroom, then followed her down the hall as the senator went into the bathroom and shut the door of a stall. Nevertheless, the activists continued to voice their demands from inside the bathroom, including a demand that she support President Biden's "Build Back Better" agenda and legislation that would provide a pathway to citizenship for illegal migrants.
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Sinema did not engage in a discussion with the activists in the video footage, instead ignoring the group as she exited the stall and washed her hands.
The video comes on the same day another group of activists confronted Sen. Joe Manchin at his houseboat in Washington, D.C., demanding the West Virginia Democrat drop his opposition to his party's $3.5 trillion spending bill.
Both Sinema and Manchin have expressed opposition to the legislation, dealing a blow to Democrats who cannot afford a single defection in the evenly split Senate.
Fox News’ Michael Lee contributed reporting.
Houston Keene is a reporter for Fox News Digital. You can find him on Twitter at @HoustonKeene
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