Left’s Double Standard: Former MSNBC Employee, Anti-Israel Commentator Calls Hakeem Jeffries ‘Monkey,’ Insists It’s Not Racist

So for those of you who yearn for some stability in this ever-shifting, chaotic world, I bring you a bit of news that’s been the same for at least 2,380 consecutive weeks now: If it weren’t for double standards, the American left would have no standards at all.

I’m taking that number from Jan. 20, 1981 — the final day that Jimmy Carter was in office as president — until Saturday, Sep. 5, 2026. Say what you will about Carter (and I do, and most of it has to be asterisked, and I certainly wasn’t around when he was elected), he said what he meant.

He saw an America in decline and malaise (though he never actually said that exact word, liberals will always point out), he made it clear during his time on earth that he had contempt for Israel (and probably for Jews, period), and exercised American might in the most flaccid, useless way possible during his presidency.

But at least he told you he believed all that. Fast forward to the next Democratic president and we got, “It depends on what the meaning of the word ‘is’ is.”

And lo, the party defended a lawyer and president who apparently couldn’t conjugate the most basic verb in the English language as it pertained to non-conjugal sexual relations during grand jury testimony, but Bob Dole’s wife owning Disney stock was a sign of moral turpitude for the press. (Actual story in the run-up to the 1996 campaign, believe it or not!)

That’s because the consistent standard of double standards had become ingrained in the party mentality the moment Carter headed back to Plains, apparently.

And the times, they haven’t a’changed.

Consider former MSNBC commentator Rula Jebreal, who once said Ron DeSantis was a racist because he used the phrase “monkey around” when his opponent was black in the Florida gubernatorial race in 2018.

Jebreal actually used the phrase “monkey” when referring to Hakeem Jeffries but insisted, in the next breath, that it was “not racist.”

Appearing on author Wajahat Ali’s podcast, Jebreal — a Palestinian-identifying Israeli national who’s a journalist and commentator for whoever will pay attention to her, especially NBC News’ former cable annex — complained that the American Israel Public Affairs Committee was apparently running the show in House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries’ Democratic caucus.

“His name is Hakeem. ‘Hakeem’ is an Arabic name which means ‘healer,’” the viral clip from Ali’s “The Left Hook” podcast earlier this week began.

“He’s not a healer, he’s a divider. He is a bought and paid by AIPAC monkey. With all due respect — and I don’t mean it in a racist way,” she continued.

“He is just basically an errand boy, and we’re done and tired.”

Hakeem Jeffries called an AIPAC monkey but “not in a racist way” while Wajahat Ali says nothing in response. pic.twitter.com/5Htk743Vci

— Shannon Watts (@shannonrwatts) September 4, 2026

The fuller clip shows Ali trying to cover for her while acknowledging the word has “terrible racial connotations.”

“But I think you caught yourself and said you didn’t mean it with any racial animosity,” he said.

Jebreal’s attempt at clarification seemed to dig her in deeper, but maybe it sufficed for both of them.

“There are these three monkeys: One, I cannot hear, I cannot see, I cannot speak,” she said. “It reminds me of these three monkeys.”

Sure, that tracks. Except for the part where she was one of the voices trying to tar-and-feather Ron DeSantis as a racist for using the word in an even more innocuous manner not specifically directed at a black person but in an election that involved a black opponent:

She’s done it more than once. pic.twitter.com/M4GHZ0xuek

— Aaron Black (@ABlackPolitical) September 5, 2026

Even the all-Democrat Congressional Black Caucus rejected this nonsense, because they know the no-standards-but-double-standards rulebook. (Heck, they wrote a good portion of it.)

To be clear, there isn’t a non-racist way to call Leader Jeffries—a Black man—a “monkey” or “errand boy.”@WajahatAli, this is what happens when we hold ourselves to such low standards for what’s allowable in our discourse—people get comfortable being openly bigoted.

We have to… https://t.co/3Cu32T3JYT

— Congressional Black Caucus (CBC) (@TheBlackCaucus) September 4, 2026

And Jebreal, realizing she’d fallen afoul of enough people who keep double standards to get herself in trouble, issued the coward’s half-apology:

I am disgusted and horrified that Hakeem Jeffries is taking money from AIPAC amidst Israel’s genocide in Palestine.
That said, a term that I used to describe him was inappropriate and offensive and should never have been used.
I apologize unconditionally.

— Rula Jebreal (@rulajebreal) September 4, 2026

“I apologize unconditionally,” except for the conditions that she started the apology with. Nice!

So, yes, week 2,380 of double standards or no standards is in the books for the American left — and with a touch of anti-Semitism and infighting to boot, along with the racism. Can’t wait to see what week 2,381 brings.

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