Left-wing commentator Ana Kasparian revealed this week that she abandoned the Democratic Party after she revealed that she was sexually assaulted by a homeless man and was subsequently harshly criticized for publicly disclosing the attack.
The co-host of “The Young Turks” made the revelation on Jillian Michaels’ “Keeping It Real” podcast while discussing feeling “politically homeless” in recent years.
“In 2022, it was around March, I was walking my dog,” she began. “It was not quite dark yet, but the sun was setting. As I’m walking my dog, I see these two guys that were, they were just kind of like moving around weirdly, they seemed kind of manic, and their clothes were tattered. So I just I knew that they were probably homeless, and I also knew that they’re probably on something.”
She said that she didn’t think anything of it because she has been around the homeless before and has never had issues.
“But as I was bending down to pick up my dog’s mess, one of the guys, like, grabs me by my hips and he had an erection, and just starts, like, humping me and I didn’t know what to do,” she said. “I was terrified. I didn’t have a weapon on me, like I had no way of defending myself. I didn’t know how far it was gonna go, because it’s two guys.”
“I’m by myself with my little dog. It was like one of the most terrifying things ever, because I’m pretty good at defending myself,” she continued. “In that moment, I just knew there was no option. And luckily, he stopped, and they just laughed at me and walked away as they were laughing at me.”
She said that she was filled with feelings of fear, humiliation, and shame and that the attack left her struggling with mental health issues and being afraid to go outside.
“So, I opened up about this on the show, not really thinking much of it, and before I know it, I’m starting to get these messages, and it’s like really, really harsh stuff,” she said. “And it’s about, how you are painting a picture of the homeless community. You know, how could you be like this? You know, these are your unhoused neighbors, and they need help.”
“A few people accused me of being racist when I had never disclosed the race of the individuals who did this to me, and in fact, they were white,” she said. “And so like, when they started accusing me of being racist, I’m like, wait a minute, why are you assuming that the people who did this? Of course, yeah, like, I think you might have a problem here. Exactly. Yeah. That woke me up. That woke me up. That woke me up.”
She said that she realized all these people whom she’s associated with and believed to be good people have racist stereotypes in their minds about minorities.
“At some point last year, the other thing that really hit me was the difference between my upbringing and what the Democratic Party espouses,” Kasparian said.
She said that Democrats “constantly disempower people of color” with “messaging that infantilizes them and makes them seem as though, you know, if it weren’t for us white saviors messing around with these laws and policies, they would never be able to survive.”
