President Donald Trump needs allies in the House of Representatives, said former Rep. Darrell Issa (R-CA), commenting on his campaign to represent California’s 50th congressional district in a joint interview with Harvard Law School Professor Emeritus Alan Dershowitz on SiriusXM’s Breitbart News Sunday with host Joel Pollak.
Issa, who previously represented the 49th district before retiring, is facing off against Democrat Ammar Campa-Najjar, who is running in the district for the second time.
Trump nominated Issa in 2017 to become director of the U.S. Trade and Development Agency. “I got blocked by one particular Democrat in the Senate, Bob Menendez,” recalled Issa.
Former Rep. Duncan Hunter (D-CA) represented California’s 50th District until his resignation after pleading guilty to the misuse of campaign funds.
“I enjoyed my time in Congress,” said Issa. “I think I can make a real difference, and President Trump needs people at his side in his second term.”
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Campa-Najjar has attacked Issa as an outsider to the district. He has also mocked Issa for supporting Trump after previously opposing him. Issa supported Sen. Marco Rubio (R-FL) in the 2016 presidential race.
In the interview Sunday, Issa highlighted Campa-Najjar’s praise of his grandfather, Muhammad Yousef al-Najjar (Abu Yousef), a Palestinian terrorist involved in the mass murder of Israeli athletes at the 1972 Olympic Games in Munich, Germany. He was killed in 1973 by Israeli commandos in Beirut, Lebanon.
Issa said, “Five years ago, he was still calling his grandfather a ‘legend’, and he is still very close to his father who is high-ranking member of the PLO. He he grew up in Gaza [and] he is still an individual who is is quite anti-Israel.”
Issa added, “He changed his name from Ammar Yasser Najjar to Campa[-Najjar] so he could be more Hispanic, but that’s politics. We’re used to it, but the voters need to be informed.” (Campa-Najjar’s mother is Mexican-American.)
Issa noted Campa-Najjar had been endorsed left-wing elected politicians such as Sens. Bernie Sanders (I-VT) and Elizabeth Warren (D-MA), and Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (D-NY).
Campa-Najjar supports gun control legislation, and has been endorsed by Moms Demand Action:
However, he describes himself as a supporter of the Second Amendment on his website:
Campa-Najjar is a responsible gun owner who believes in the Second Amendment. He supports adopting the same common-sense practices used by the military before issuing recruits a weapon, like background checks, psych evaluation, training and safe storage. Instead of banning firearms because of how they look, Ammar believes investing in mental health and enforcing existing laws on bump stocks and conversion kits will go further to reduce gun violence.
Via Twitter, Campa-Najjar seemingly invited Issa to a marksmanship challenge.
Issa replied to Campa-Najjar’s on Breitbart News Sunday: “When I served my country for 10 years in the army, I was awarded [as] an expert marksman. I think I could hit a target if I needed to, but I don’t need to prove that.”
Breitbart News Sunday broadcasts live on SiriusXM Patriot 125 from 7:00 p.m. to 10:00 p.m. Eastern.
This article has been updated to note that Campa-Najjar’s mother is Mexican-American.