Jeffries, AOC blame Republicans after Democrat’s antisemitic comments
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House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries, DY, Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, DY, and other Democrats responded to a Democratic congressional candidate’s “anti-Semitic” rhetoric calling for the imprisonment and castration of “American Zionists” by trying to shift blame to Republicans.
After progressive Democrat Maureen Galindo sparked a storm of controversy for promising to open “a prison for American Zionists and former ICE officers,” Jeffries and the Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee (DCCC) said in a joint statement that “MAGA extremists should be ashamed of themselves.”
Jeffries and the DCCC accused GOP leaders of supporting Galindo, saying, “House Republican leadership should immediately stop supporting this anti-Semitic nomination, withdraw spending from the race, and strongly condemn these comments.”
“This vile language is disqualifying and has no place in American politics and certainly not in the Democratic Party,” Jeffries and the DCCC said in the statement, adding: “Embracing and glorifying a candidate who sidelines with antisemitic – and deeply dangerous – rhetoric and views to win the election is beyond the pale.”
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Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (DY) and House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries (DY) blamed Republicans for Democratic congressional candidate Maureen Galindo’s “anti-Semitic” remarks. Galindo is in the center. (Katina Zentz/San Antonio Express-News via Getty Images; Sven Hoppe/picture Alliance via Getty Images; Kevin Dietsch/Getty Images)
“Texans will not be fooled and will reject him at the ballot box next week,” they added.
Galindo, who is currently a lock in a primary runoff for a Texas congressional seat, is under fire after promising in a social media post to turn a local ICE center into “a prison for American Zionists and former ICE officers.” He also said in his post that the prison “will also be a sterilization processing center for pedophiles, who will most likely be Zionists.”
Earlier this month, the DCCC accused “Washington Republicans” of secretly contributing to Galindo’s campaign through dark money spending.
Galindo and his DCCC-backed primary opponent, Johnny Garcia, will face off in a runoff election next week. In their first meeting, Galindo had a narrow lead over Garcia, 29 to 27 percent, but neither candidate came close to clearing the 50 percent threshold needed to win the nomination.
Jeffries and the DCCC weren’t the only ones trying to blame Republicans after Galindo’s comments.
Ocasio-Cortez called Galindo’s comments “absolutely disgusting” and wrote about X that “bigoted nonsense and anti-Semitism should be nowhere near our politics.”
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House Minority Leader Rep. Hakeem Jeffries (DY) speaks during his weekly press conference on Capitol Hill on February 2, 2023 in Washington, DC. (Drew Angerer/Getty Images)
He urged Texans in the district to vote for Garcia, writing: “The donors behind the Republican super PAC who are funding him need to be exposed.”
Across the aisle, Rep. Elise Stefanik, R-Y., wrote: “I am rarely shocked. But this disgusting anti-Semitic statement is truly shocking.”
He emphasized that “every elected Democrat should immediately publicly condemn this.”
In the upper chamber of Congress, Sen. Rick Scott, R-Fla., called it “beyond despicable” for “a Democratic candidate to openly call for a Jewish concentration camp to be established in the United States in 2026.”
Even so, more Democrats accused Republicans of supporting Texas’ progressive candidate. “Republicans should stop supporting his fake candidacy,” Rep. Christian Menefee, D-Texas, wrote to X.
Menefee added that she was “disgusted to see these antisemitic comments from a so-called Texas Democrat” and wrote that Galindo “has no place in our party or in Congress.”
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Texas Senate candidate James Talarico urged voters to reduce meat consumption in a 2022 clip that went viral Tuesday. (Mark Felix/Getty Images)
Meanwhile, State Rep. James Talarico, one of the leading Democrats on the ballot this November in Texas and running for a critical Senate seat, responded to the debate: “We need leadership in both parties that is willing to stand up and call out hate wherever it rears its ugly head.” Jewish Telegraphic Agency.
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“This anti-Semitic rhetoric has no place in our policy,” Talarico said, according to the agency.
Fox News Digital has reached out to Galindo for comment.
Fox News Digital’s Louis Casiano and Brittany Miller contributed to this report.
