Mr. Uygur, a longtime supporter of Mr. Sanders, has also disparaged former President Barack Obama on his show, argued that bestiality should be legal and hosted white supremacist figures, including David Duke. In one clip that circulated on Twitter, Mr. Duke ends an interview by saying, “I am not, what you call a racist,” to which Mr. Uygur replies, “No, of course not.”
Mr. Uygur called the clip a “complete smear” that had been taken out of context from a combative one-hour interview in which he pushed back on Mr. Duke.
He said he had already apologized for and disavowed many of his past statements, and called the criticism he was facing “incredibly unfair, driven by the corporate Democrats and to some extent corporate media.”
Ms. Smith has mostly declined to comment on Mr. Uygur’s past remarks, which have repeatedly resurfaced in local press. But last month, she told The Washington Post: “I’m not sure how to rank what is most damning of his commentary, but the most disqualifying to me was the night of the Saugus High School shooting when he boasted about his fundraising totals while I was with grieving families and students. He is not fit to serve anywhere, least of all a district where he doesn’t even live.”
Several liberal groups in California have condemned Mr. Uygur, and Mark Gonzalez, the chairman of the Los Angeles County Democratic Party, had called for Mr. Sanders to withdraw his endorsement.
“This man has spent decades, including up until recently, attacking women, the LGBTQ community, Jews, Muslims, Asian-Americans and African Americans,” he said in a statement. “His vulgarity, his hate speech and divisive rhetoric have no place in our party.”
Ms. Hill stepped down from the congressional seat in October after nude pictures of her surfaced online. She faced a House ethics investigation into allegations that she had a sexual relationship with a member of her congressional staff, a violation of House rules and which she denies. Ms. Hill said she was the victim of an abusive husband who had engaged in revenge porn by distributing the photos.