Bruce Blakeman, New York's Republican gubernatorial nominee, largely defended inflammatory remarks he made this week comparing a Jewish Democratic congressional candidate to a Nazi concentration camp guard, though he acknowledged the language may have crossed a line.
Speaking to Newsmax on Wednesday, Blakeman said Brad Lander, who won Tuesday's Democratic primary in the state's 10th Congressional District, would have served as "a camp guard in the concentration camp if he could." Lander, New York City's former comptroller, is also Jewish.
When pressed about his comments on Thursday, Blakeman retreated slightly. "Maybe camp guard was too strong," he said in a statement, but pivoted immediately to a fresh attack. "Certainly collaborator as Brad Lander turned his back on the Jewish community when he locked arms with the extremists who want to wipe Israel off the map."
Lander, a fierce critic of Israel's military operations in Gaza, fired back swiftly. "I don't know where Bruce Blakeman went to Hebrew school, but I was taught that 'Never Again!' means never again to anyone," he said in a statement. "Standing up for Palestinian human rights doesn't make me any less proud to be Jewish, or any less serious about fighting antisemitism."
The controversy has drawn rebukes from across the political spectrum. Gov. Kathy Hochul, Blakeman's Democratic opponent in November, called his remark disqualifying. "Every single time Bruce Blakeman opens up his mouth, he's simply auditioning for his next role in the Trump administration after he loses the election," she told NY1.
J Street, a liberal pro-Israel advocacy group that endorsed both Lander and his primary opponent Rep. Dan Goldman, condemned Blakeman's words as "corrosive and wrong." The organization said on social media that "a growing number of American Jews reject the false choice that fighting for Israel's future means abandoning the Palestinian people."
New York City Council Speaker Julie Menin, a Democrat whose family survived the Holocaust, also weighed in forcefully. "As the daughter and granddaughter of Holocaust survivors, I know firsthand the profound suffering my family experienced. The Holocaust must never be used as a rhetorical device in our politics, and this kind of moral equivalence is unacceptable," she wrote on social media.
Lander's victory Tuesday marked a significant shift in New York's Democratic primary dynamics. He defeated Goldman, a sitting congressman and Trump impeachment prosecutor who held similar progressive positions but was far less critical of Israel. Goldman had the backing of party leadership, including Hochul and House Democratic Leader Hakeem Jeffries, as well as major labor unions and the American Israel Public Affairs Committee.
Lander, a close ally of New York Mayor Zohran Mamdani, represents the ascendant progressive wing of the party that has taken an increasingly hard line on Palestinian rights. He was one of three Mamdani-endorsed candidates to defeat incumbents or their chosen successors in this week's primaries.
Blakeman, who earned an endorsement from Donald Trump last year, now faces Hochul in what is shaping up as a contentious general election battle this fall.
Author Sarah Mitchell: "Blakeman's attempt to soften language he clearly meant is transparently hollow, and the Nazi comparison gambit backfired spectacularly across Jewish organizations and Democratic leadership alike."
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