Justice Democrats Demand Resignation From Cenk Uygur After Blog Posts

Empty Lighthouse is a reader-supported site. This article may contain affiliate links to Amazon and other sites. We earn a commission on purchases made through these links.

In the last 24 hours, The Young Turks' Cenk Uygur has been under fire for some blog posts he wrote in the early 2000s.

The Wrap found several old posts in which Uygur and his longtime friend and co-worker Dave Koller made inappropriate remarks about women, including underage women. Here are some of those posts:

I had one of the best nights of my life at Mardi Gras. I kissed over 23 different women, saw and felt countless breasts, and was in a wonderful drunken stupor thanks to my friend John Daniels

Women, ignore these at your peril," .... "Rule 1: There must be some serious making out by the third date. If I haven't felt your tits by then, things are not about to last much longer. In fact, if you don't get back on track by the fourth date, you're done."

...

He added: "Rule 2: There must be orgasm by the fifth date

Koller, meanwhile, wrote about approaching underage girls and called them "whores in training".

Uygur was a founder of the Justice Democrats, which includes Congressman Ro Khanna, as well as Alison Hartson (for whom Uygur recently raised hundreds of thousands of dollars). However, the Justice Democrats released this statement today:

December 22, 20 1 7

Justice Democrats Executive Director Saikat Chakrabarti and Campaigns Director Alexandra Rojas have issued the following statement concerning Cenk Uygur and David Koller

"Yesterday, blog posts written by Cenk Uygur and David Koller surfaced in which they both made extremely disturbing sexist and racist statements- The entire staff and leadership of Justice Democrats was horrified by these posts- After hearing Mr. Uygur's side of the story and talking with our candidates. our staff came to the swifl and unanimous decision to demand Cenk Uygur's and David Koller's immediate resignation from their positions at Justice Democrats- The words and conduct in Mr. Uygur and Mr. Koller's posts degrade what it means to be a Justice Democrat. We do not feel that Mr. Uygur is fit to lead or participate in an organization that truly believes women's issues and the issues of black and brown people are all of our issues. Mr. Uygur decided to resign from the Board yesterday at 11 PM ET. and he has agreed to remove himself from any and all involvement with our organization. David Koller has also resigned as treasurer of our organization.

I am extremely proud of our staff for risking their livelihoods in order to stand up for the values of Justice Democrats. Justice Democrats was built from the ground up by incredibly hard working staff and volunteers- We have built an infrastructure over the past year with the focus of supporting our 51 candidates, and we will continue to make that stronger. Our mission still is to create a just America that fights for progressive values- We believe these departures will

strengthen our ability to fight for that and to win in 2018-" Justice Democrats Executive Director, Saikat Chakrabarti

"I am disgusted by these blog posts. We would be hypocrites to not act immediately and ask for Cenk Uygur and David Koller's immediate resignation- Leaders must represent and be a symbol for the values of the organization they lead. That is why we have called for the resignation of elected officials and public figures who have abused their power and the same standard will be applied to leaders in our movement- Justice Democrats is dedicated to creating a progressive movement that challenges patriarchy, ends systemic racism and stands by the values of our platform- These two men do not represent our organization. The staff who have built this from the ground up and candidates who make up the slate do." Justice Democrats Campaigns

Director, Alexandra Rojas

During tonight's episode of The Young Turks, Uygur confirmed that he has resigned from the organization, although he says he will continue to support them.

The decision by Justice Democrats has upset many TYT fans, however, and they make up a significant percentage of Justice Democrat donors and supporters. Many have noted that the blog posts are nearly 20 years old:

Wanna read more on this? Check these out: The Young Turks (TYT) Cenk Uygur Speaks Out On Jordan Chariton, Blames TATM For Firing (more); WTF Is Going On With The Young Turks? Shocking Sexual Assault Allegations, Firings, And Disappearances...

(more); The Young Turks' Cenk Uygur Hits Former Employee Dave Rubin: 'Paid To' Take Positions (more); The Young Turks' Cenk Uygur Talks Politicon Secrets, Calls Scottie Nell Hughes 'A Circus Performer' (more).

And here are some more related articles: Watch The Young Turks Ana Kasparian Make A Fool Of Ann Coulter In Politicon Debate (more); How To Watch Cenk Uygur and The Young Turks Debate at Politicon (more); Cenk Uygur Interviews Joe Manchin on The Young Turks: Check Out His Shocking Responses (more).

A few more: WTF? Joe Manchin To Appear on The Young Turks -- At His Request (more); The Young Turks' Ana Kasparian Trashes Co-Hosts In Post Game (more).

The Young Turks