Sen. Kirsten Gillibrand, D-N.Y., on Thursday condemned anti-Semitism “in all forms.” But nevertheless, the presidential candidate declined to criticize the Women’s March, a national group whose leaders have come under fire for alleged anti-Semitism and refusing to denounce Louis Farrakhan.
Some Democrats distanced themselves from the liberal organization after it was revealed that co-president Tamika Mallory and board member Linda Sarsour had associated with Farrakhan, the leader of the Nation of Islam who regularly spreads anti-Semitic conspiracies and makes anti-Semitic remarks. In subsequent interviews, Mallory and Sarsour have refused to apologize for attending events where Farrakhan spoke.
Gillibrand is not attending the rally the organization plans to stage in Washington Saturday. But when asked what her position was on the group and whether she would shun them in the future, Gillibrand avoided giving an answer.
Instead, in a lengthy statement, Gillibrand campaign spokeswoman Meredith Kelly offered up a lengthy statement that did not address the controversy surrounding Women’s March.
“Sen. Gillibrand strongly condemns anti-Semitism from anyone, in all forms, and believes it has no place in a movement for women’s empowerment or anywhere else,” Kelly’s statement to the Washington Examiner read. A spokesman for Sen. Elizabeth Warren, D-Mass., did not respond to a request for comment.
This weekend Gillibrand, 52, is scheduled to be in Iowa, a key swing state and host of the first nominating contest of the 2020 calendar. While there, she plans to participate in a local women’s march. The event is being organized by Women’s March Iowa, which has cut ties with the national umbrella group, Women’s March, Inc., as a result of the Farrakhan controversy.
“She is looking forward to being in Iowa and will not turn her back on the thousands of Iowa women who are joining this locally organized march to advocate for the issues that deeply impact them and their families,” Kelly said. “This powerful and meaningful march is about the hardworking women in Des Moines and across the country, and she can’t wait to join them.”
The national umbrella group was born from a grassroots backlash that motivated millions of women to march in protest against President Trump, in Washington and around the country, just after his election.
The issue is tricky for Democrats. So much of the activism that fueled the party’s victories in the midterm elections, including a sweeping takeover of the House of Representatives, has been driven by female voters. Women’s March events were a key channel for grassroots energy that bore fruit at the polls in 2018, and Democrats are hoping for similar results in 2020.
But especially as the Democratic Party attempts to draw a sharp contrast with Trump and his brand of culture-clash politics that some on the Left portray as racist, associating with figures like Farrakhan could prove politically disastrous. Indeed, several local affiliates of Women’s March, have disassociated with the national group because of the revelations of Mallory’s connections to Farrakhan, according to reporting by the Jewish Telegraphic Agency.
In interviews, Mallory has repeatedly condemned anti-Semitism, but has stopped short of denouncing Farrakhan. That has irked many on the Left. The Democratic National Committee, for instance, quietly dropped its sponsorship of the Women’s March events. The Jewish Democratic Council of America has responded by distancing itself from the group and choosing not to participate in any of its sponsored events. That includes this weekend’s march on Washington, part of a day of marches in cities across the country.
Even so, Halie Soifer, executive director of JDCA who has otherwise been sharply critical of Women’s March, said her organization was not urging others, whether elected officials or grassroots activists, to take similarly punitive action.
“The leadership of the march — the women who are leading it — have really failed to represent the kind of inclusivity I had hoped to see. That’s why I will not be attending the march in Washington,” Soifer said. “As for individuals who may choose to march, that is certainly their decision.”
