A progressive Democratic activist group is being accused of antisemitism for mocking the names of two Jewish New York politicians — House candidate Dan Goldman and state Assemblyman Jeffrey Dinowitz.
“The jerk buying a House seat with inherited money is ‘Goldman’ … the IDC-adjacent Assembly member is ‘DINOwitz.’ Who came up with these names, Dickens?” a member of No IDC NY wrote on Saturday. The tweet has since been deleted.
The No IDC tweet quickly sparked ire from local politicians, leading the group to apologize.
“A tweet dripping with Antisemitism,” tweeted Bronx Congressman Ritchie Torres. “The normalization of Antisemitism is a sign of how poisonous our politics has become.”
A tweet dripping with Antisemitism.The normalization of Antisemitism is a sign of how poisonous our politics has become. pic.twitter.com/j3hdW39Qo7
— Ritchie Torres (@RitchieTorres) August 28, 2022
“We’re sorry — no anti-Semitism was intended and we took this down when folks expressed concerns it could be taken the wrong way,” a rep from liberal activist group No IDC NY wrote on Twitter, adding that the social media account manager who posted the tweet has been suspended.
Who are NY Democrats Dinowitz and Goldman?
Dinowitz, a Bronx legislator first elected in 1994, responded with his own statement on Twitter, saying, “I’ve been the target of anti-Semitic attacks from both the far right and the far left.”
“This tweet from an extremist, anonymous account selectively singles out two Jewish politicians and is disgusting. It’s a classic display of antisemitism and should be condemned,” he wrote.
"Buying a House seat with inherited money" refers to Dan Goldman's $4 million self-funded race, defeating Yuh-Line Niou, a New York state assembly member of the 10th District who has been outspoken about her support for The Boycott, Divestment and Sanctions movement (BDS).
The heir to Levi Strauss and Co. fortune, Goldman, a lawyer who led the Trump impeachment trial, is set to be the first new member of Congress that most residents of the Manhattan and Brooklyn-based district have had in decades. New to politics, his primary victory on August 25 comes after a tumultuous court-ordered redistricting process made way for a brand new district in the heart of New York City with no incumbent.
Haley Cohen contributed to this report.