The slurs landing in Jewish lawmakers' inboxes are no longer whispered in shadows. They arrive in voicemails, campaign ads, and direct messages with the casual brutality of everyday speech, and two dozen members of Congress say the problem has spiraled into territory they have never witnessed before.
Gone are the days of coded language and dog whistles. The hatred is explicit, unfiltered, and often unapologetic. Constituents have written to Rep. Jerry Nadler that "Hitler was spot-on, 100% right." Callers have told Rep. Greg Landsman to "just go die" in profane tirades about their Jewish identity. Rep. Max Miller's office received messages warning that "a real holocaust will take effect" and that Jewish staffers "aren't human."
"We've crossed the Rubicon," said Rep. Jared Moskowitz, a Florida Democrat. The message from lawmakers across the aisle is uniform: what they are experiencing now is fundamentally different, and worse.
The recent weeks have produced a string of incidents that have shaken the political establishment. A super PAC backing Rep. Thomas Massie of Kentucky produced an ad depicting major Jewish donor Paul Singer alongside a rainbow Star of David, a brazen deployment of antisemitic imagery in a campaign advertisement. Rep. Seth Magaziner called it "the most brazen example of an antisemitic political ad that I have seen in years."
The ad sparked alarm within the Congressional Jewish Caucus and raised questions about whether such material had become politically acceptable. "We're at a moment where the people who made the ad think it's not only not disqualifying, but it's something to celebrate and embrace, and that is disgusting," said Rep. Brad Schneider of Illinois.
In a separate incident, William Paul, the son of Sen. Rand Paul, unleashed an antisemitic tirade at a Capitol Hill bar targeting Rep. Mike Lawler, blaming "Jews" for his father's ally Massie potentially losing reelection and calling Jews "anti-American." Paul later apologized and said he would seek help for alcohol abuse.
The pattern extends into congressional races themselves. Maureen Galindo, a left-wing candidate running for Congress in Texas, was found to have posted rants about "Jews who own Hollywood" and "the synagogue of Satan." After finishing first in a Democratic primary in March, she advanced to a runoff and stated she intends to introduce legislation declaring Zionism antisemitic if elected, with rhetoric suggesting elected officials who took Israeli money should face treason charges.
California gubernatorial candidate Don Grundmann went further, publishing material in the state's official voter guide describing non-Jews as "goyim" and depicting them as "less than human animals/cattle" to be enslaved.
The fury is arriving from both ideological directions. Republican Rep. Max Miller noted that the hostility is coming from "both ends of our parties." Scott Wiener, a progressive California state senator running to succeed former Speaker Nancy Pelosi in Congress, acknowledged that "rhetoric on some corners of the left that is very extreme" has emerged.
The messages lawmakers receive paint a portrait of normalized hatred. Miller's office heard voicemails using slurs, threats of mass violence, and demands that Jewish Americans be stripped of citizenship and deported. Another letter to Nadler included a drawing of him being shot in the head.
What distinguishes the current moment, lawmakers say, is the absence of pretense. "It's no longer thinly veiled," said Rep. Josh Gottheimer of New Jersey. "It's just direct." Wiener said his direct messages contain "just horrific antisemitism, very violent" rhetoric. "We're in an anything-goes situation."
Republican infighting has erupted over the Massie ad. Jewish Rep. Randy Fine of Florida attacked Massie directly, calling him an "antisemite" and a "piece of garbage" for not denouncing the material. Massie responded dismissively, claiming he cannot control super PAC advertisements, then pivoted to framing the controversy as a referendum on whether the "Israeli lobby can buy a seat in Kentucky," maintaining his focus on Paul Singer's donations.
Author James Rodriguez: "When antisemitic campaign ads are something politicians feel comfortable running and politicians feel comfortable defending, the dam has clearly broken."
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