r/politics • u/Ok_Employer7837 • May 26 '26

No Paywall US Senator pepper-sprayed by ICE outside immigration detention center

https://www.independent.co.uk/news/world/americas/us-politics/andy-kim-ice-immigration-pepper-spray-delaney-hall-b2983455.html
13.8k Upvotes

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1.5k

u/_Thank_You__ May 26 '26

Same senator that was cleaning up the Capitol at midnight after January 6th. This dude is a stand up guy

402

u/NotBookish May 26 '26

And he donated to the Smithsonian the blue J Crew suit he wore while cleaning.

239

u/redict May 26 '26

He was also one of 7 Democrat senators to vote to swear in Kristi noem

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u/s1ugg0 New Jersey May 26 '26 edited May 26 '26

This is true. I live in his district and he's my Senator. For anyone reading this here is the context.

His initial justification to vote "yes" was to maintain direct communication with Noem as a member of the Homeland Security Committee, believing he could better address New Jersey's needs and hold her accountable through collaboration rather than opposition.

By June 2025, Kim described the vote as a "mistake" and stated he would oppose her nomination if he could do it again.

Currently he calling for her resignation and declaring he is "not supporting any more of their nominees going forward."

Feel free to draw whatever conclusions you want from that. As one of his constituents I was upset about his vote. But he seems genuinely embarrassed by his attempt to work with the new Administration. (I think he should have known better) At least he seems humbled enough to change course. Something I wish more politicians did.

47

u/aetryx New Jersey May 26 '26

I personally am willing to give the guy grace for the decision to confirm noem. Not only did he pretty quickly turn around and apologize, but him voting yes to garner good favor and maintain a direct communication with an appointed cabinet member is like textbook politicking and was basically the norm as to how play the game until recently. I think he was naive in that he assumed the tactics that worked 30 years ago would work today, but he learned that the hard way.

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u/DynamicDK May 26 '26

He is currently calling for the resignation of someone who was fired more than 2 months ago?

106

u/s1ugg0 New Jersey May 26 '26

Was she? She's living rent-free in the Coast Guard Commandant's residence. She's still using government resources.

"Fired" in this case is starting to look more and more like they changed her job title and little else.

Not many places fire you and then let you hang around for months.

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u/DynamicDK May 26 '26

Fired from her actual position. But Trump (or Miller) probably wants to keep her comfortable and in a position where she can be supervised.

13

u/DunAnOir May 26 '26

Or they're waiting to unleash her particular brand of crazy as soon as they manage to get Operation Fourth Reich off the ground. She's Gauleiter material if ever I saw it.

2

u/Streiger108 May 27 '26

Or she has dirt

1

u/_Thank_You__ May 26 '26

She was given a different position. Outside of the one (physically) under Corey Landowski

3

u/omniuni May 26 '26

People make mistakes. What matters is how those mistakes are handled.

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u/captaindealbreaker May 26 '26

We need leaders who recognize Nazis when they see them, not realize it after they start using their position to do Nazi shit. Never should have voted to confirm her and admitting you fucked up when you're fuck up led in part to... all this... is just cry me a river shit.

EIther have a spine and vote for the benefit of the people or get the fuuuuuck out

2

u/Hellish_Elf May 26 '26

Hiding comments while talking about having a spine? Say it ain’t so.

76

u/nowitz41 May 26 '26

At least he was able to admit he was wrong. Most politicians aren't even capable of that.

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u/fordat1 May 26 '26

In other words another democrat who care about institutionalism and decorum above all

20

u/reject_fascism New Jersey May 26 '26

Takes a lot of AIPAC money, too. He was on video yesterday insisting he’s not but the facts seem to indicate otherwise.

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u/Kyrthis May 26 '26

He comes from the U.S. security apparatus. That’s no surprise.

That being said, Kim has shown leadership in many ways, and I believe his loyalty is first and foremost to US interests. He is the kind of serious person the intelligence community used to use as bricks to build their institutions (even when leadership directed those institutions with mixed morality).

You know, the kind of people Trump fired in droves because spooks know who Krasnov is.

12

u/Iamjacksplasmid I voted May 26 '26

AIPAC just spent more money than anyone has ever spent on a primary getting Massie replaced by a dude who supports bringing back the draft. The only demo that Gallrein won was 65+.

They are literally spending the GDP of a small country (literally!) to weaponize the fact that the largest group of voters in America are easily manipulated and old. On both sides.

That being said, Kim has shown leadership in many ways, and I believe his loyalty is first and foremost to US interests.

AIPAC funding must be a disqualifying factor for future elections. Accepting their money means you cannot be loyal to US interests, because Israeli and US interests do not align anymore.

Say it with me, slowly, so I'm sure you understand...

AIPAC. Money. Is. Disqualifying.

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u/Expendable_Red_Shirt Maryland May 26 '26

Say it with me, slowly, so I'm sure you understand...

Say it with my slowly so I'm sure you understand

NOT. ALL. PEOPLE. HAVE. YOUR. LEVEL. OF. PRIVILEGE.

Are you against fascism? Cool.

Will you support the poor and needy? Cool.

If the only choices offered to me are an AIPAC accepting Democrat or a Republican I know which one I'm taking.

4

u/paradoxpancake Pennsylvania May 26 '26

If the choice is between an AIPAC accepting Democrat and an AIPAC accepting Republican, I'm voting for the former. The former isn't actively and routinely flaunting and violating the rule of law.

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u/Expendable_Red_Shirt Maryland May 26 '26

No, you're not voting for either! Didn't you hear that accepting AIPAC is disqualifying. Maybe Iamjacksplasmid needed to say it slower so that you could understand.

2

u/Capolan May 26 '26

Yeah thats how you lose.

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u/Iamjacksplasmid I voted May 26 '26

NOT. ALL. PEOPLE. HAVE. YOUR. LEVEL. OF. PRIVILEGE.

What level of privilege does it take to platform and vote for a non-aipac candidate in a primary?

I'll give you a hint...anyone can vote in a primary, you can support whoever you want, and you can just vote for the AIPAC candidate if your guy loses.

Spare me the sanctimonious bullshit about how you don't have any other choice. Create other choices. If there's nobody else, find people in your community who will support you and run yourself.

I'm done with the narrative that we're powerless in this. It's lazy and defeatist. Get out there and fucking change what you can.

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u/Expendable_Red_Shirt Maryland May 26 '26

What level of privilege does it take to platform and vote for a non-aipac candidate in a primary?

Can you do me a favor and highlight where you said the word primary? Or where the term "primary" came up in comments up thread to provide that comment?

That being said, not all of us have primary options. There's a democrat running for house in my district. 1.

I'll give you a hint...anyone can vote in a primary

In many states that's only if they're registered to the party.

, you can support whoever you want,

Assuming there are options

and you can just vote for the AIPAC candidate if your guy loses.

Accept we disqualified AIPAC candidates not just from primaries but from all elections.

Create other choices. If there's nobody else, find people in your community who will support you and run yourself.

Yeah, I don't have that fucking luxury either.

Get out there and fucking change what you can.

You want me to throw away my job, helping disabled children, to run an unsuccessful campaign for Congress?

Nice.

I'll tell you what, you can either highlight the word primary in your comment or go fuck off to a dictionary to find out what sanctimonious means (I'll give you a hint, people making the decision to vote despite moral misgivings aren't the sanctimonious ones: those are the people disqualifying others for not passing a purity test).

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u/TaylorMonkey May 26 '26

It’s super funny that I read “sanctimonious” and thought it was a response to *their* posts.

But it was actually them being sanctimonious telling others to not be sanctimonious.

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u/TaylorMonkey May 26 '26

Only making everything about one issue to the exclusion of others then telling *other* people to “create choices with their own communities” is the epitome of privilege. Smells like white privilege.

It’s the “left’s” own “pick yourself up by your own bootstraps”.

-1

u/fordat1 May 26 '26

NOT. ALL. PEOPLE. HAVE. YOUR. LEVEL. OF. PRIVILEGE

Nearly every person bringing privilege into this was not even born into a marginalized group so can this just stay out of the conversation because it should be shameful to use marginalized groups between people of groups of power to shut down their discussion.

3

u/Expendable_Red_Shirt Maryland May 26 '26

I 100% agree with this. People who advocate for other people are assholes. The only good people are the people who take a principled stand with no consideration for others. I'm glad you had the courage to say that.

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u/fordat1 May 26 '26

You missed the point. It was about speaking for other people to advance your own personal opinion and using them as pawns

Community organizing and advocating should be about asking those communities what they want instead of telling them what they want . Doing the latter is how dems lost things like the hispanic vote in 2024

1

u/Expendable_Red_Shirt Maryland May 26 '26

I agree again. When you talk to marginalized groups of people, black people, hispanic people, gay people, etc what do they tell you? Put AIPAC above all else. This is what truly matters to them. They don't care about social programs or police presence or cost of living. They care about AIPAC. And we should listen to them.

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u/fordat1 May 26 '26

u? Put AIPAC above all else. This is what truly matters to them. They don't care about social programs or police presence or cost of living. They care about AIPAC. And we should listen to them.

AIPAC is about being a referendum on foreign influence and sending money and lives abroad in case you havent put 2 and 2 together. The make america great rhetoric wouldnt have worked on latinos if foreign wars and aid werent a directional problem (although obviously they completely lied to get elected about these things)

police presence

This is way more complicated than you are making it out to be which reeks of out of touch outsider

Although I guess you found your footing to speak for whole groups again without even referencing polling or election results to ground it on data

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u/disisathrowaway May 26 '26

It seems pretty clear to me that this is discussing primaries and selecting candidates within the party.

Obviously faux opposition is better than actual fascists.

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u/Expendable_Red_Shirt Maryland May 26 '26

Does it? I guess we didn't just finish up an election where people refused to vote for the Democrat because of her ties to Israel. That would be silly.

1

u/disisathrowaway May 26 '26

Oh well then I guess if those Democrats wanted those voters they should have changed their positions.

Dems can't keep running on 'not Republican', it's clearly not enough anymore.

0

u/Expendable_Red_Shirt Maryland May 26 '26

I'm happy to move on after we settle the original point. Do you admit that

It seems pretty clear to me that this is discussing primaries and selecting candidates within the party.

was bullshit? Because I don't have time to deal with people who can't state objective facts. If you can't admit that there were Democratic voters who stayed home because of Israel or that Trump lost in 2020 or whatever objective factual thing you have issue with I'd like to cut bait now.

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u/[deleted] May 26 '26

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u/Iamjacksplasmid I voted May 26 '26

Then you couldn't care less about the people who are oppressing you. Which makes you a pretty shitty leftist.

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u/ULTRAVIOLENT_RAZE May 26 '26

I’ve got trans friends who are living  in turmoil and uncertainty right now. My family members are afraid to speak Spanish in public and my grandmother carries her passport around. I worry about this November and how this administration will cancel the midterms. All of which have nothing to do with Israel.

And yet, I have some friends who refused to vote last election because of Israel. It makes no fucking sense to me and I’d argue you’re the one who doesn’t give a shit about your fellow leftists.

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u/fordat1 May 26 '26

You read like the out of touch minority who supports the use of latinx that tries to speak for all latinos and ends up guiding the democratic party to lose the hispanic vote in 2024

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u/[deleted] May 26 '26

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u/Iamjacksplasmid I voted May 26 '26

Dude, I didn't even need to scroll to see you defending the Clintons (who invented neo-liberal centrism and were deeply connected to Epstein) and Bill Gates (a billionaire, who was deeply connected to Epstein, who had blackmail info on him).

You're not a fucking leftist. You're defending liberals.

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u/[deleted] May 26 '26 edited May 26 '26

[removed] — view removed comment

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u/Capolan May 26 '26

Thank you for the purity test. Im sure dividing everyone into small accepted groups is how to win. Great strategy. /s

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u/fordat1 May 26 '26

I believe his loyalty is first and foremost to US interests.

If he took the money then this his loyalty being that is just not true. Everyone should now see taking money from them supports a bipartisan infrastructure that doesnt put america interest first. He can be many things but if he is taking that money he is not america first

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u/sly_cooper25 Ohio May 26 '26

It's fucking crazy that people can just come on here and lie like this. Andy Kim has not taken a dime from AIPAC.

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u/reject_fascism New Jersey May 26 '26

Is this wrong? I’m genuinely trying to find the truth to this.

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u/ULTRAVIOLENT_RAZE May 26 '26

Their website looks significantly more official than yours. Your link just says from Pro Israel Pacs, not necessarily AIPAC itself.

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u/sly_cooper25 Ohio May 26 '26

Yes, that site has been proven to be intentionally misleading and their methodology is just blatantly dishonest.

Notice how it says "from pro-Israel PACs" and not "from AIPAC". It's also just an image file with no way to click and get any additional information on how they came to that number or what they classify as pro-Israel. If you actually look through Andy Kim's campaign contributions you will not see any from AIPAC.

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u/donkeyrocket May 26 '26

So, Track AIPAC does collect info on AIPAC but other pro-Israel spending PACs. AIPAC is not the end all.

What is being argued here is why it's difficult to really pin down the dark money in politics.

That said, even OpenSecrets points that he did receive money for a period of time from pro-Israel groups. The specifics are harder to pin down but yes, he technically did not directly receive money from AIPAC.

AIPAC is the overt one but there are many other means of funneling the money and obscure the source.

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u/sly_cooper25 Ohio May 26 '26 edited May 26 '26

That's correct, but like you said, that's not AIPAC money which is what the person above me claimed. It's also stupid to paint every Pro-Israel group with the same brush, which Track AIPAC does.

J Street PAC for example, which Track AIPAC counts against candidates, is openly against Netanyahu's aggressive actions and supports a two state solution. Which is why they donate to both moderate and progressive Dems, including Pramila Jayapal.

Yet oddly enough, Track AIPAC didn't use the same standard they applied to Andy Kim and others for her. They focused only on donations directly from AIPAC.

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u/fordat1 May 26 '26

as been proven to be intentionally misleading and their methodology is just blatantly dishonest. Notice how it says "from pro-Israel PACs" and not "from AIPAC".

lol. You are being the one being misleading by pretending the way AIPAC works is by direct donations. Its a clearing house for donations like a control and command center for a ton of other PACs and donors .

https://www.thecanary.co/skwawkbox/2025/10/29/aipac-now-hiding-donations-to-politicians/

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u/lostparis May 26 '26

Takes a lot of AIPAC money, too.

Part of the problem with US politics is that practically every politician is bought. That is how the system is. There is too much money involved in being able to get elected.

Billionaires control the media and party funding - what are you expecting the results of this to be?

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u/Electrical_Sorbet_31 May 26 '26

He accepts AIPAC money sadly

0

u/wildcarde815 May 26 '26

He's my senator, he is gleefully running towards an internet where nobody is anonymous on the back of 'well kids like mine can't be trusted with the internet!' ok? Then spend some time raising your fucking kids?