Sen. Amy Klobuchar (D-MN) is rebuking a top mayoral candidate in Minneapolis, far-left state Sen. Omar Fateh, who has recently faced criticism for employing campaign staffers who have glorified Hamas’ Oct. 7, 2023, terror attacks, blamed Israel for the war in Gaza and called for the destruction of the Jewish state, among other extreme comments.

In a statement to Jewish Insider on Wednesday, a spokesperson for Klobuchar, who is backing Fateh’s chief rival, Mayor Jacob Frey, said that the senator “strongly and immediately condemned the Hamas terrorist attack, and condemns any statements to the contrary.”

“These comments are outrageous and have no place in our politics,” the spokesperson, Jane Meyer, said of the staffers’ remarks, which were unearthed by JI last week. “She has spoken out against antisemitism for years. She has endorsed the mayor and did so months ago.”

Klobuchar, who along with Minnesota Gov. Tim Walz is the most high-profile Democratic official supporting Frey’s campaign for a third term, had until now remained silent with regard to Fateh, a 35-year-old democratic socialist whose insurgent bid has drawn comparisons to Zohran Mamdani, the Democratic nominee for New York City mayor.

Meyer declined a request for comment from JI last Friday but ultimately shared a statement this week after Fateh drew backlash from, among others, the local Jewish Community Relations Council, which called into question his commitment to addressing Jewish safety concerns as he tolerates staffers who “traffic in antisemitism” and act as “apologists” for Hamas.

Fateh, who pledged to boycott the JCRC in a recent candidate questionnaire solicited by the Twin Cities chapter of the Democratic Socialists of America, has not yet addressed the staffers’ rhetoric, significantly more extreme than his own public stances on Israel and Gaza.

While he has accused Israel of genocide and voiced support for the Boycott, Divestment and Sanctions movement against Israel, Fateh’s communications manager, Ayana Smith-Kooiman, has endorsed the Hamas attacks as a justified act of “resistance” and declared that Israel “does not have a ‘right’ to exist” and “must be dismantled,” among several other now-deleted social media posts reviewed by JI.

In addition, David Gilbert-Pederson, a local political activist and City Council aide who has been listed as a Fateh campaign staffer in filings, has unreservedly praised Hamas’ violence against Israel. Speaking in December 2023, Gilbert-Pederson celebrated “what happened collectively for the people of Palestine on Oct. 7” and said supporters of the Palestinian cause must “stand in unconditional solidarity with those resisting oppression.”

Despite Klobuchar’s new condemnation of such rhetoric, most of Frey’s leading allies in the hotly contested mayoral race have so far refrained from commenting on the situation. Representatives for Walz have not responded to multiple requests for comment on the staffers or Fateh’s acceptance of their views.

Prominent Democratic officials who have not taken sides in the race have likewise declined to weigh in on the matter.

Fateh’s campaign did not respond to a request for comment on Wednesday. 

The state senator is set to host a “Jews for Fateh” fundraiser early next month, according to an event page, which notes that attendees will learn about his “campaign’s movement to build a city that leaves no one behind.”