Demand Justice is refusing to weigh in on controversial comments made by a board member amid news that the organization is preparing to funnel millions supporting the Supreme Court nomination of Ketanji Brown Jackson.
Axios reported Tuesday that Demand Justice, a progressive judicial advocacy organization, will lead the fight to nominate Jackson from the Left. Demand Justice has already announced a $1 million ad campaign and reportedly plans to dump much more money into Jackson’s nomination, according to the publication.
It's time for the Senate to confirm Judge Ketanji Brown Jackson without delay.
Thank you @rahnamepting, @FGossGraves, @alexismcgill, @jbrownedianis, and @BeckyPringle for giving voice to our latest ad. pic.twitter.com/8dBW5VoZcB
— Demand Justice #ExpandTheCourt (@WeDemandJustice) March 3, 2022
The leftist group has a projected budget of $7.5 million for 2022, Axios reported that tax exemptions filed with the IRS show, and the affiliated charity Demand Justice Initiative reported to the IRS that it will bring in $4.2 million in 2022.
All of those funds will be directed to allied organizations including Demand Justice’s advocacy arm, according to Axios.
Filings show that Demand Justice Initiative’s board of directors is a “who’s who” of progressive activists: the Demand Justice Initiative’s board includes former NARAL Pro-Choice America President Ilyse Hogue and former Bernie Sanders campaign manager Faiz Shakir.
The Demand Justice board includes progressive strategy nonprofit, The Hub Project, co-founder Arkadi Gerney, Lori Lodes, executive director of Climate Power, and The Nation justice correspondent Elie Mystal — who recently sparked a backlash by calling the Constitution “kind of trash” on The View.
Demand Justice executive director Brian Fallon has not responded to repeated requests for comment from The Daily Wire as to whether he condones Mystal’s comments. Referencing separate comments that Mystal made on The View, Fallon tweeted, “Give Elie a show.”
Give Elie a show.https://t.co/ikxt6Nz1so
— Brian Fallon (@brianefallon) March 4, 2022
Mystal himself has not responded to The Daily Wire’s request for comment.
“It’s certainly not sacred,” said Mystal of the Constitution earlier this week on The View. “Alright, let’s start there. The Constitution is kind of trash. Again, let’s just talk as adults for a second.”
“What did you say, it’s what?” interrupted Joy Behar.
“It’s kind of trash,” Mystal repeated.
He elaborated: “Trash. It was written by slavers and colonists and white people who were willing to make deals with slavers and colonists.”
“They didn’t ask anybody that looked like me what they thought about the Constitution,” continued Mystal. “This was without the consent of black and brown people in this country, and without the consent of women. That was the starting point. The very least we can do is ignore what those slavers and colonists and misogynists thought and interpret the Constitution in a way that makes sense for our modern world.”
When Behar asked Mystal if he would change the Constitution, he replied that there were parts of it he would like to remove.
"The Constitution is kind of trash," said @ElieNYC on #TheView. pic.twitter.com/9wLkME7i9l
— Mediaite (@Mediaite) March 4, 2022
“Popular election for the president, people vote, not land,” he said as he argued to end the Electoral College. “You can do it in a tweet, right? Term limits for Supreme Court Justices, and how about no states’ rights when it comes to health care, elections, policing, and guns? It’s just better. That’s just better, and you can do that in a tweet.”
The Demand Justice board member appeared to double down on his comments later as he replied to critics on Twitter.
"the constitution works for all people" says man threatening me because of something I wrote. https://t.co/AGFiYIUu2C
— Elie Mystal (@ElieNYC) March 5, 2022