Elizabeth Warren staffer secretly recorded claiming ‘no one gives a f**k about a goddamn pronoun’
The Elizabeth Warren field organiser was secretly recorded by Project Veritas. (Project Veritas)
An Elizabeth Warren field organiser has been secretly recorded by an undercover right-wing journalist saying: “No one gives a f**k about a goddamn pronoun.”
Warren has been a vocal supporter of the LGBT+ community, especially trans people, during her presidential campaign, in stark contrast with the current Trump administration.
She made headlines after September’s Presidential Candidate Forum on LGBTQ Issues when she listed the names of the 18 Black trans women who had been murdered so far in the US in 2019, and vowed in December that if she is elected she will read the names of killed trans women of colour in the White House Rose Garden every year.
Last month, Warren said she will stop the US from imprisoning trans women in men’s prisons if she becomes the country’s next president.
But now conservative media outlets are rejoicing after a right-wing organisation secretly filmed a Warren campaign staffer criticising the presidential hopeful’s focus on LGBT+ rights.
Angel Alicea has been working as a field organiser for the Warren campaign since March, 2019.
He was filmed by the group Project Veritas, which specialises in undercover operations against people involved in liberal politics or media.
In the secretly filmed footage, he is shown saying: “At the end of the day if we’re gonna prioritise pronouns over making sure people have a decent standard of living, that’s wrong.
“And when you come from where I come from, no one gives a f**k about a goddamn pronoun. People want to know how to create a job.
“The thing is – and like I’m here for the pronoun things – but I just feel like I shouldn’t have to say he/him/his, like shouldn’t it just be implied?”
He added that he was still “trying to get up to speed” with they/them pronouns, and said he had been “called out” for not displaying his own pronouns in his Twitter bio.
“I threw them in there just to satisfy the folks,” he said.
Alicea added: “When you put [pronouns] over making sure people have decent jobs and healthcare, like, it’s a f**king no-brainer why we’re going to goddamn lose an election.”
He also appeared to claim that he is “ostracised” by his coworkers on the Warren campaign because he is a straight man.
BREAKING: #Expose2020 Part 5: @ewarren Field Organizer @Los_ANGELes2 Blasts Campaign; Caught on Tape Saying They are Self-Destructing on Gender Issues.
“No One Gives a F**k About a G** D**n Pronoun…People Want to Know How to Create a Job” pic.twitter.com/DmM5PNjwSa
— James O’Keefe (@JamesOKeefeIII) February 3, 2020
Group that targeted Elizabeth Warren staffer has history producing ‘heavily edited’ videos.
But Project Veritas has a long history of lawsuits for distributed deceptively edited footage.
In 2009, the group targeted ACORN, a non-profit which was involved in voter registration and advocacy for lower and moderate income, and mostly ethnic minority, Americans.
Project Veritas released “heavily edited” videos implying that ACORN workers were willing to be complicit in sex trafficking.
A board member of Philadelphia ACORN said at the time: “This is a targeted assault to disenfranchise our members because… the right-wing agenda is to stop us from empowering people of low and moderate incomes.
“When you make the poor powerful, the powerful feel threatened.”
After investigation, there was no evidence found that ACORN was involved in any wrongdoing, and Project Veritas founder James O’Keefe was ordered to pay $100,000 to one employee for deliberately misrepresenting him.
In 2019, Project Veritas was sued for libel after a disabled woman was assaulted while protesting a Trump rally. The group used footage of her to run a story alleging that Democratic operatives had planned to incite violence at Trump rallies.
Her lawyers said the organisation’s tactics “demonstrate reckless disregard for the truth”.
According to The Guardian, Project Veritas received at least two donations from Trump’s charitable foundation, a month before he launched his presidential campaign.
The Elizabeth Warren campaign and Angel Alicea have been approached for comment.
