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House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries, D-N.Y., Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, D-N.Y., and other Democrats responded to a Democratic congressional candidate’s “antisemitic” rant about jailing and castrating “American Zionists” by attempting to shift the blame to Republicans.
After progressive Democrat Maureen Galindo stirred up a firestorm of controversy for pledging 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 backing Galindo, saying, “House Republican leadership must immediately cease propping up this antisemitic candidacy, pull spending in the race and forcefully condemn these comments.”
“This vile language by her 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, “To embrace and uplift a fringe candidate with antisemitic — and extremely dangerous — rhetoric and views in order to win an election is beyond the pale.”
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Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, D-N.Y., and House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries, D-N.Y., blamed Republicans for Democratic congressional candidate Maureen Galindo’s “antisemitic” rant. 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 her at the ballot box next week,” they added.
Galindo, who is currently locked in a primary runoff for a Texas congressional seat, is under fire after pledging in a social media post to turn a local ICE center into a “prison for American Zionists and former ICE officers.” She also said in the post that the prison “will also be a castration processing center for pedophiles, which will probably be most of the Zionists.”
Earlier this month, the DCCC accused “Washington Republicans” of secretly contributing to Galindo’s campaign through dark money spending.
Galindo and her primary opponent, Johnny Garcia, who has been endorsed by the DCCC, are set to face off in a runoff election next week. In their first matchup, Galindo had a narrow lead over Garcia, 29 to 27 percent, though neither candidate came close to clearing the 50 percent threshold required to win the nomination.
Jeffries and the DCCC were not the only ones attempting to point the finger at Republicans after Galindo’s comments.
Ocasio-Cortez called Galindo’s comments “absolutely disgusting,” writing on X that her “bigoted garbage and antisemitism should be nowhere near our politics.”
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House Minority Leader Rep. Hakeem Jeffries, D-N.Y., speaks during his weekly news conference on Capitol Hill in Washington, D.C., on Feb. 2, 2023. (Drew Angerer/Getty Images)
She urged Texans in the district to vote for Garcia, writing, “the donors behind the Republican super PAC funding her should be exposed.”
On the other side of the aisle, Rep. Elise Stefanik, R-N.Y., wrote, “I am rarely shocked. But this heinous antisemitic statement is truly shocking.”
She emphasized that “Every elected Democrat needs to publicly condemn this immediately.”
In the upper chamber of Congress, Sen. Rick Scott, R-Fla., called it “beyond despicable” that “a Democrat candidate is openly calling for a Jewish concentration camp in the United States of America in 2026.”
Despite this, more Democrats accused Republicans of backing the Texas progressive candidate. Rep. Christian Menefee, D-Texas, wrote on X, “Republicans should stop propping up her sham candidacy.”
Menefee added that he was “disgusted to see these antisemitic comments from a so-called Texas Democrat,” writing that Galindo “has no place in our party and no place in Congress.”
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Texas Senate candidate James Talarico urged voters to reduce meat consumption in a 2022 clip that went viral on Tuesday. (Mark Felix/Getty Images)
Meanwhile, one of the top Democrats on the Texas ballot this November, state Rep. James Talarico, who is running for a critical Senate seat, responded to the controversy by saying, “We need leadership in both parties willing to stand up and call out hate wherever it rears its ugly head,” according to the Jewish Telegraphic Agency.
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Talarico also said, “This antisemitic rhetoric has no place in our politics,” according to the agency.
Fox News Digital reached out to Galindo for comment.
Fox News Digital’s Louis Casiano and Brittany Miller contributed to this report.
