A Democratic House candidate in Texas is facing bipartisan condemnation and accusations of antisemitism after saying she wanted to turn an immigration detention facility into a “prison for American Zionists” if elected. Maureen Galindo is running against Johnny Garcia in next week's Democratic primary for the 35th congressional district, which covers parts of San Antonio and surrounding counties.
Galindo wrote on Instagram that she would introduce a bill declaring Zionism to be antisemitic and would “turn Karnes ICE Detention Center into a prison for American Zionists and former ICE officers for human trafficking”. She added that it would also be a “castration processing center for pedophiles”. The following day she told a local radio station that she was not antisemitic but opposed to “Zionist Jews”, and suggested that Garcia and others backed by pro-Israel groups should be “tried for treason”.
Democrats have alleged that a mysterious political action committee, Lead Left Pac, founded less than a month ago, is a Republican attempt to ensure a weak opponent in November. The group has spent more than $900,000 promoting Galindo, with over $600,000 on ads, and has yet to reveal its donors. Links to the GOP fundraising website WinRed were reportedly removed from its website's metadata after an earlier news report. The group also ran ads in Democratic primaries in Pennsylvania and Nebraska this month.
House minority leader Hakeem Jeffries and Suzan DelBene, chair of the Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee, called Galindo's comments “extremely dangerous” and “vile”, adding that they had “no place in Democratic politics”. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez described the remarks as “bigoted garbage and antisemitism”. Representatives Josh Gottheimer and Jared Moskowitz said that if Galindo won, they would force a vote to expel her every day she was in Congress.
Garcia said Galindo was “pushing conspiracy theories and hateful rhetoric”, and that Republicans saw her as an easy opponent. House speaker Mike Johnson denied any GOP involvement, saying he had not known of Galindo before the comments surfaced. Galindo did not immediately respond to a request for comment, but a statement on her campaign website rejected the characterisation of her remarks.
