Replacements For Senator Harris’ Seat Praised Fidel Castro For His Leadership

There are two frontrunners for Vice President-elect Kamala Harris’ Senate seat and both of them have praised former Cuban dictator Fidel Castro.

Both Democratic California Representatives Karen Bass and Barbara Lee had nothing but good things to say about the communist leader in the past.

After Castro’s death in 2016, Lee said, “I was very sad for the Cuban people. He led a revolution in Cuba that led social improvements for his people.”

Lee had met Castro a total of eight times and called him “a smart man.”

She also made a statement after Castro’s passing.

“My deepest condolences to Fidel Castro’s family and the Cuban people during this time. While there are many disagreements between our countries, President Castro was a recognized world leader who was dedicated to the Cuban people,” said Lee.

She added, “It is my hope that we continue to build on President Obama’s efforts to end the failed embargo, lift the‎ travel ban and normalize relations between our two countries.”

In 1973 Bass traveled to Cuba with an organization called the Venceremos Brigade, a joint venture between the regime and leftist U.S. groups that organized trips for Americans to construct homes in the country. It was during that trip she went to see Castro speak.

Then, in 2016, when Castro died, Bass referred to him as “commandante en jefe,” meaning commander in chief, and called his passing a “great loss to the people of Cuba.”

Similar to Harris, when Bass was being considered as a possible running mate for then-candidate Joe Biden in 2019, she told The Atlantic that she expressed regret for those comments.

“If I had to make that statement over again, I wouldn’t use those words,” said Bass.