House Democratic leaders condemn Texas candidate for antisemitic comments
Top House Democrats are condemning a Texas Democratic candidate days after she said on social media that she would turn an immigration detention center into a “prison for American Zionists” if she won.
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Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries of New York and Rep. Suzan DelBene of Washington, who leads the House Democrats’ campaign arm, blasted Maureen Galindo as her past comments gained traction on social media.
“This vile language from him is disqualifying and has no place in American politics, and certainly not in the Democratic Party,” the two Democrats said in a statement released Tuesday evening.
Galindo, a therapist, finished with the most votes in the March Democratic primary for Texas’ 35th Congressional District, a new district that state Republican lawmakers drew to be friendlier to the GOP this fall. She is running in a runoff against Johnny Garcia, who previously worked at the Bexar County Sheriff’s Office.
Galindo made a series of controversial comments during his campaign. She wrote on Instagram last week that she would turn an Immigration and Customs Enforcement detention center “into a prison for American Zionists and former ICE officers for human trafficking,” going on to claim that many Zionists are “pedophiles.”
Galindo did not respond to a request for comment.
Jeffries and DelBene also discussed the hundreds of thousands of dollars spent by an obscure group, Lead Left PAC, which spent to bolster Galindo. They accused Republicans of trying to interfere in the race by elevating a seemingly toxic candidate who raised virtually no money.
“Accepting and promoting a fringe candidate with anti-Semitic – and extremely dangerous – rhetoric and views in order to win an election is out of line,” they said. “MAGA extremists should be ashamed of themselves. »
Lead Left PAC is a brand new organization with little online footprint that recently began spending to support primary candidates running against Democrats seen as the party establishment’s preferred choices.
It is unclear who is funding this effort, as it has not yet been required to disclose its fundraising under campaign finance laws. Punchbowl News reported this month that metadata from the group’s website was linked to a GOP fundraising platform, sparking speculation that Republicans could seek to bolster Galindo to help them win the seat in the fall.
The winner of Tuesday’s Democratic runoff will face the winner of the Republican runoff between Trump-backed Air Force veteran Carlos De La Cruz and state Rep. John Lujan, whose backers include Gov. Greg Abbott.
Other lawmakers on both sides of the aisle posted comments condemning Galindo’s comments.
“This is absolutely disgusting. This bigoted bullshit and anti-Semitism should be no part of our politics,” Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, D-N.Y., wrote in a social media statement that also criticized Republicans’ alleged involvement in supporting Galindo’s candidacy.
Sen. Dave McCormick, R-Pa., argued in his own social media post: “If a Republican candidate proposed putting Jews in work camps, it would be the subject of a national media story for days.” »
“There is no version of America where rhetoric like this is acceptable,” he added.
