Portland Mayoral Candidate Asked Whether She's Antifa or Not: 'Antifa is Not Anything More than an Idea'

Nick Kangadis | October 12, 2020
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A candidate to become the mayor of Portland, Oregon isn’t ashamed in the least to call herself “anti-fascist.” But don’t call her part of the violent communist group Antifa, because she — much like Democratic presidential candidate Joe Biden — believe Antifa is nothing more than an “idea.”

Despite previous proclamations of “I am antifa,” Portland mayoral candidate Sarah Iannarone bragged of “anti-fascist” beliefs during a debate with current Portland mayor, Ted Wheeler.

KGW-TV anchor Lauren Porter point blank asked Iannarone if she is, in fact, Antifa.

“I love that Joe Biden answered this question before me, because being opposed to fascism in 2020 is not something to be embarrassed about,” Iannarone responded. “I have a bumper sticker from the beginning of my campaign that says #EverydayAntifascist. And what I have tried to do is normalize peaceful responses to the rise of white nationalism by organizing in my community.”

Iannarone continued to talk about her activism, before Porter had to differentiate between the term “anti-fascism” and Antifa resulting in another question about whether Iannarone is part of or supports the group of Antifa.

“Antifa is not anything more than an idea, that's what vice president Biden explained to us,” Iannarone said. “It's people who oppose anti-fascism. And I strongly oppose anti-fascism and I adopt and implement peaceful responses to that. And that is how I describe my position on this issue.”

Iannarone also took the opportunity to lay blame of the riotous violence that has plagued Portland for over 100 days at President Donald Trump’s feet.

“Donald Trump has decided to make the enemy of groups of people who oppose his bullies and his militia forces," Iannarone said, summing up her stance. "But I'm not going to be caught up in that rhetoric because it's false. It creates division in our society. It creates division in our city. What we need is every single Portlander faced in the right direction, saying 'Hate is not welcome here.’”

Here's video of Iannarone's responses:

As The Blaze pointed out, Iannarone has a history of skirting the line between being able to claim she’s an “anti-fascist” and/or “antifa.”

 

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