Candidate Cynthia Nixon.
The New York State Democratic Party controlled by Governor Cuomo has been sending mailers on behalf of his campaign to Jewish voters insinuating that Democratic candidate for Governor Cynthia Nixon, who is raising two Jewish children, is anti-Semitic.
Progressive Jews took to social media to express their outrage over the mailer. Geoff Berman, Executive Director of the New York State Democratic Party, would not respond to inquiries yesterday regarding who was responsible for the mailer. Cynthia will be speaking on the matter directly after her visit to the Church of the Open Door in Brooklyn.
“This is an attack not only on my children and my character, but on all New Yorkers,” Nixon said. “It’s sickening, at a time when anti-Semitic, Islamophobic, and other hate crimes are on the rise, to exploit people’s real fears like this. Our children’s grandparents escaped the Holocaust but many of their family members did not. The accusation that my family promotes anti-Semitism is deeply, deeply offensive. I am incredibly angry and sad that Governor Cuomo and his official New York State Democratic Party would engage in the kind of Trump-style divide and conquer tactics at a time when we need to come together. Berman should be fired and new mailers should be sent out correcting the record on Monday.”
“How dare the New York State Democratic Party. Smearing Cynthia Nixon, whose kids are being raised Jewish, as soft on anti-Semitism and lying about her position on Israel in order to fearmonger and shill for votes is a shameful dead-end for our party. It strains credulity to believe that the Cuomo campaign did not approve this mailing, as they have sent so much of their mail through the NYS Party,” said New York City Council Member Brad Lander.
“As a proud Jewish New Yorker I am honored to stand with Cynthia. She supports our community and stands by us and our progressive values. Anti-semitism is a very serious matter and this mailer is an irresponsible misrepresentation of the facts for political purposes. I demand an immediate apology,” said New York State Assembly Member Harvey Epstein.
“As an elected Democrat in New York State and as a Jew, I am doubly offended and aghast that my party organization would produce and mail such a false, damaging attack on Ms. Nixon and then watch the Governor and key staff act surprised they had done this. Shameful,” said New York State Senator Liz Krueger.
“The Jewish Vote remains outraged by the deceptive mailer put out by the NYS Democratic Party yesterday. This unabashed attempt to split the Jewish community’s vote by spreading lies and stoking Jewish fears is, as we’d say in yiddish, a shonde,” said Audrey Sasson, Director of The Jewish Vote.
“It’s shocking that the official state Democratic Party is not only picking winners in a competitive primary, but running a smear campaign against one contender…the Cuomo and Democratic Party anti-Semitism scare tactics here are cynical and offensive to me,” said Ezra Levin co-founder and director of Indivisible.
Cynthia’s two older children are being raised Jewish and became Bar and Bat Mitzvah at Congregation Beit Simchat Torah, where Nixon and her wife are members.
Cuomo’s religion-based attack comes as he has not visited a mosque in nearly eight years as Governor, Nixon said. The candidate released the following statement on Eid al-Adha, August 21, condemning hate crimes against Muslims, Jews and other New Yorkers: “Leadership means lifting up and celebrating all the faiths and traditions in our state, and forcefully condemning the rising hate crimes we are seeing against Muslims, Jews and many other communities.”
