“Countdown” podcast host Keith Olbermann said he used to date Sen. Kyrsten Sinema (D-Ariz.) and urged her to quit her seat Tuesday after she praised her professional friendship with Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-Ky.).
Olbermann, formerly of ESPN and MSNBC, fired off several social media posts that called attention to his relationship with Sinema and his belief that she had strayed from her progressive values.
In a Monday tweet that included an article quoting Sinema’s effort to work in concert with McConnell, Olbermann harkened back to his personal time with the Arizona senator.
“When we dated, in 2010-11, Kyrsten was a legit progressive, far to my left,” he wrote. “Now she has embraced the Political Industry™️ where there is only process, not policy, and never people.”
Olbermann later intensified his argument, again reminding readers that they went out.
“Senator Kyrsten Sinema of Arizona should resign after appearing with Mitch McConnell at a barely-disguised Republican Rally,” Olbermann wrote early Tuesday. He also plugged his podcast, promising to explain “the relevance of my nearly 8-year friendship and brief dating relationship with her.”
Sinema’s office didn’t immediately respond to HuffPost’s request for comment.
Many Democrats have been frustrated by Sinema and Sen. Joe Manchin (D-W.Va.) for their reluctance to support the party’s legislative priorities. Sinema further raised eyebrows in her appearance with McConnell by declaring her support for restoring filibuster elements that have been weakened.
But Olbermann kept it personal.
Called out by a journalist for “soft launching” the fact that he dated Sinema after issuing several critical posts mentioning a “friendship,” Olbermann responded: “For a long time I believed — and held to a preference — that there was no need to make the dating part public. The friendship preceded and followed it for a span of 7 years; I thought it was sufficient context. Turns out it wasn’t.”
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