Anti-cop, anti-Israel rhetoric from staffers threatens Dem’s ‘moderate’ image
Texas Democratic Senate candidate Colin Allred has surrounded himself with campaign staffers who have shared what appear to be deeply progressive takes on current political issues — from the war in Israel and a ban on "assault weapons" to the abolition of federal immigration authorities.
The social media history of Allred's current campaign staff sheds light on whom the Texas Senate candidate has hired to help him flip the high-profile seat from red to blue in November.
Allred, who currently represents Texas' 32nd Congressional District in the House, announced in May 2023 that he would make a run for the Senate in an attempt to unseat GOP Sen. Ted Cruz, who has represented the Lone Star State in the upper chamber since 2013.
While it is unclear whether the views of campaign staff could endanger what The Austin Chronicle described as Allred's "moderate-Dem case" against Cruz, the Texas congressman has made clear his support for "stand[ing] with our ally Israel."
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Michelle Cedeño, the digital mobilization manager for the Texas Democrat's campaign, has shown her support for Palestine and disdain for Israel in social media comments.
She shared another X user's post on October 11, less than a week after Hamas carried out its assault on Israel, that stated, "You can’t celebrate Indigenous Peoples’ Day and say Palestinians don’t have a right to their homeland." She also retweeted a post that urged individuals not to "talk to cops" and a post from Rep. Rashida Tlaib, D-Mich., that claimed Israel was led by "apartheid-in-chief [Benjamin] Netanyahu."
In February 2024, Cedeño amplified remarks made by one X user who accused Israel of committing "genocide."
Cedeño, who has been tasked with reaching millions of Texas voters and has sent multiple emails to the Allred campaign's email list, shared numerous posts on social media in recent years that are seemingly anti-police and anti-ICE. Additionally, Cedeño previously made disparaging remarks about President Biden and an individual who now serves in his cabinet.
In a January 2021 post to her Facebook page, Cedeño celebrated a news report that stated members of the Austin City Council could use some funds diverted from its police budget to purchase two hotels to use as "permanent supportive housing for people experiencing chronic homelessness."
"YES," she wrote, sharing the article with her friends.
Cedeño also shared a July 2019 then-Twitter post from United We Dream Texas that claimed Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) agents "are cruel" and called for the agency to be abolished. She also shared a Sept. 2020 then-Twitter post that claimed ICE was performing "genocide" through acts that "inspired the Nazi regime."
Aside from her remarks about political issues, Cedeño has directly targeted Biden and Pete Buttigieg, who previously ran for president and now serves as the secretary of transportation, during the 2020 Democratic presidential primaries.
In an Oct. 2019 post, Cedeño claimed that Biden has "abusive habits" and an "over-botoxed five-head."
Regarding Buttigieg, Cedeño wrote, "F--- this dude" in a Nov. 2019 post to social media and later expressed frustration when Biden appointed him to a cabinet position.
"Bro can’t even take control of his police department as mayor when they murder a black man now you’re going to trust him with a WHOLE CABINET POSITION," she wrote in a Dec. 2020 post to Facebook.
James Burnett — another staffer who serves as the political coordinator for Allred's Senate campaign, according to his LinkedIn profile — has made questionable remarks about Trump supporters and has expressed support for an "assault weapons ban."
In a Sept. 2019 post to then-Twitter, Burnett suggested that Trump supporters are "Angry White People With Guns." In a separate post in Aug. 2020, Burnett claimed that the same Trump supporters are "racist."
"We said they were racist, we didn't say they weren't intelligent," he wrote at the time.
Burnett has also suggested the U.S. should "abolish the Electoral College" and took aim at officials, including Texas Gov. Greg Abbott, over immigration-related topics.
"Not gonna sugarcoat it, F--- you and your Wall," Burnett wrote in Oct. 2020 in response to a post from then-acting Commissioner of U.S. Customs and Border Protection Mark Morgan. Last November, Burnett also accused Abbott of being a "Human Trafficker" due to his efforts to bus migrants to other parts of the U.S.
Burnett also disagrees with Allred over the issue of whether Texas should be considered a "non-voting state," writing in a November 2020 post to social media that Americans "can no longer make the argument that Texas is a non-voting state anymore because Texas voted and we got our asses trounced."
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That comment, however, stands in contrast to a comment made by Allred in a May 2023 post to social media claiming "the truth is Texas is a non-voting state."
Hannah Fishman, who serves as the digital director for Allred's campaign, is another staffer who has shared hot takes online that are contrary to what millions of voters in Texas agree with.
Amid the removal of a Robert E. Lee statue in Richmond, Virginia, Fishman wrote in a July 2020 post to then-Twitter that taxpayer dollars "still fund groups like the sons/daughters of confederate veterans and fund salaries of abusive and racist police officers," adding that the "fight is only beginning."
Additionally, Fishman has offered support for a group that contributed to bailing out alleged violent criminals by sharing a link to the Baltimore Action Legal Team (BALT) in a June 2020 post amid nationwide Black Lives Matter protests. BALT is part of the National Bail Fund Network (NBFN), whose affiliates are "regularly paying bail/bond within the criminal legal or immigration detention systems for community members as their central action." NBFN is also partners with Palestine Legal, an advocacy group with some members that have reportedly defended certain terror groups.
Similar to the position held by Cedeño, Jaycee Weber, who serves as the digital content manager for Allred's campaign, previously shared June 2018 remarks from New York Democrat Sen. Kirsten Gillibrand calling for ICE to be abolished. Weber previously expressed her "love" for Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, D-N.Y., in a June 2018 tweet, just months before the self-proclaimed democratic socialist was elected to Congress.
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The Texas district currently represented by Allred, a former NFL linebacker who later worked in President Obama’s administration, includes the northeastern corner of Dallas and many of its suburbs, including Garland, Richardson, Sachse, Wylie, the Park Cities and Rowlett.
Allred won the Democratic primary election for the Senate in the state last month, beating five other Democratic hopefuls who had hoped to clinch their party's nomination.
Allred's campaign did not provide comment to Fox News Digital for this story.