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NY candidate Lander won’t defend ally Mamdani’s AIPAC comments

Brad Lander, a Jewish leftist running for Congress in New York City, wavers on Mayor Zohran Mamdani’s characterization of AIPAC as “monsters.”

Lander has allied himself with Mamdani, who endorsed Lander’s campaign for New York’s 10th Congressional District in today’s primary election.

Lander is a harsh critic of Israel, but is Jewish and identifies as a “liberal Zionist.”

This sometimes puts him in an awkward position, as Mamdani is an anti-Zionist who is sometimes accused of antisemitism.

Mamdani made the AIPAC comment last week, saying the pro-Israel lobby was using “dark money” to foment “genocide” and stoke societal divisions.

Jews, including leftist Mamdani supporters and Jewish leaders in the city government, said the comments played on old antisemitic tropes. Mamdani doubled down on the comments yesterday.

Lander is asked about Mamdani’s AIPAC comments at a Brooklyn polling site.

He agrees with Mamdani’s characterization of “negative forces” associated with AIPAC, but won’t defend his ally Mamdani’s comments, despite repeated questions, Politico reports.

“I can only be responsible for the words I use,” Lander says. “I’m going to keep trying to simultaneously be critical when I think it’s necessary, but also build in a spirit of unity and humanity.”

A Jewish voter tells Lander his non-response is “disappointing.” He says it’s “pretty challenging” to “navigate these waters,” the report says.

In another sign of Lander’s awkward fit in the Mamdani coalition, the mayor’s wife, Rama Duwaji, leaves Lander out of a get-out-the-vote statement.

Duwaji posts a photo of herself with an “I voted” sticker to her 2 million Instagram followers, telling them to vote for the two other candidates that Mamdani endorsed, Claire Valdez and Darializa Chevalier.

Lander is notably absent from the endorsement.