Trump ally Stefanik launches bid for NY governor, blasts Mamdami as ‘antisemitic communist’US Representative Elise Stefanik announced a run for New York governor Friday, as the Republican seeks to leverage her elevated profile as a vocal supporter of the American Jewish community to a role in higher office.
She aims to challenge the Democratic incumbent Kathy Hochul, who angered many Jews in New York with her endorsement of New York City’s mayor-elect, Zohran Mamdani, despite his track record of Israel criticism.
In an announcement video for Stefanik’s gubernatorial run, a narrator notes that she “fought woke insanity in our schools,” as a headline referring to her campus antisemitism hearings fills the screen.
Stefanik, who is not Jewish, has been one of the loudest voices on Capitol Hill condemning antisemitism since the October 7, 2023, Hamas attacks and war in Gaza. Her relentless questioning of university presidents about the campus climate for Jews was credited with leading to the resignations of the top posts at Harvard, the University of Pennsylvania and others.
Many invitations to address Jewish groups followed, including the Anti-Defamation League and Yeshiva University (which awarded her the Modern Orthodox school’s highest honor over the objections of many faculty). Her newfound allyships came despite Stefanik’s past platforming of the antisemitic “Great Replacement” theory, and other troublesome aspects of her history that confounded liberal Jews.................
https://www.timesofisrael.com/trump-ally-stefanik-launches-bid-for-ny-governor-blasts-mamdami-as-antisemitic-communist/
