‘I've become used to the right-wing, nationalist, nativist, antisemitic tone, but I'm really shocked about what I'm seeing from the far left — the DSA wing, that is deeply troubling, Vindman said
(Joe Raedle/Getty Images)
Retired Lt. Col. Alexander Vindman speaks during a campaign event at the Broward County Democratic Clubs and Caucuses on February 09, 2026 in Sunrise, Florida.
Add JewishInsider on GoogleAlexander Vindman, a former Army officer who became nationally known as a National Security Council whistleblower during the first Trump administration and is now running for Senate in Florida as a Democrat, called out rising antisemitism and anti-Israel sentiment on the left in a Zoom meeting with the Florida Democratic Party Jewish Caucus on Tuesday.
Vindman, who is Jewish and who fled the Soviet Union as a child, said he felt protected from antisemitism during his career in the military in the occasional times he experienced it, but faced a wave of antisemitic hatred from the right when he became a whistleblower during the first Trump administration.
He said that he had experienced a significant rise in antisemitic harassment when he declared his Senate campaign, in large part from the left.
“I’ve become used to the right-wing, nationalist, nativist, antisemitic tone, but I’m really shocked about what I’m seeing from the far left — the DSA wing, that is deeply troubling,” Vindman said. “It is not simply criticism of Israel but a conflation of Israel and Judaism, and a rise of antisemitism within what should be a portion of our own big tent.”
He said that leaders have not done enough to address the issue or hold the perpetrators accountable, on all sides of the political spectrum.
“When we fail to do that, we breed impunity and we encourage that kind of behavior,” Vindman said.
He said that challenging antisemitism is a personal issue for him, including protecting his own daughter — whom he said has felt the need to hide her Star of David necklace.
“That is not the world that I grew up in,” Vindmans said. “That is not the world that my daughter should be living in, and that is absolutely something I will fight tooth and nail to make sure that she feels comfortable living her Jewish American life.”
The Senate candidate, whose twin brother, Eugene, represents a Virginia district in the House, also said he believes that Israel has a right to exist, and that as a Jewish refugee from the FSU he feels personally close to the Jewish state. He’s faced attacks on the campaign trail for refusing to describe the war in Gaza as a genocide.
“I’m pretty deeply disturbed by the trend lines that we’re hearing on both sides of the political spectrum, but frankly, to be fair, from the far left that takes up a cry for Palestine, not a two-state solution, which I’m very much in favor of,” Vindman said. “A path that advocates for Palestine and that completely dismisses a safe homeland for the Jewish people … that’s the part that’s deeply troubling to me.”
Vindman, citing his military, intelligence and diplomatic background, said that he would seek a position on the Senate Foreign Relations, Intelligence or Armed Services Committees if he’s elected.
Plus, former Bernie bro bashes old boss
Michael M. Santiago/Getty Images
New York City Mayor Zohran Mamdani speaks during a primary-night watch party for NYC congressional candidate Claire Valdez on June 23, 2026.
Good Tuesday morning.
In today’s Daily Kickoff, we report on a fundraiser for Michigan Senate candidate Abdul El-Sayed that is being cohosted by a Democratic Party operative who praised her grandfather’s Nazi service, and spotlight Ed Miliband, who was announced as the U.K.’s foreign secretary on Monday. We talk to Jewish Democrats in Washington state who feel increasingly isolated in their own party, and interview Joel Rubin, a former Jewish liaison for Sen. Bernie Sanders, about his concerns that his one-time boss is promoting antisemitic candidates. Also in today’s Daily Kickoff: Micah Lasher, Ron Dermer and Khalil Al-Hayya.
We have also launched a new on-demand Live Briefing that you can access throughout the day via our new app (on Apple and Android) and on our website.
Today’s Daily Kickoff was curated by JI Executive Editor Melissa Weiss and Israel Editor Tamara Zieve, with assists from Danielle Cohen-Kanik and Marc Rod. Have a tip? Email us here.
What We’re Watching
- President Donald Trump is slated to meet today with Lebanese President Joseph Aoun at 11 a.m. ET. The meeting comes as Israel moves forward with its plan to withdraw from “pilot zones” in southern Lebanon where the Lebanese Armed Forces will move in and administer the area in accordance with the framework agreement established last month between Beirut and Jerusalem.
- The White House is reportedly mulling a proposal from Middle East mediators including Qatar, Egypt and Pakistan for a 10-day ceasefire to halt fighting between the U.S. and Iran. Earlier today, officials in Bahrain confirmed that sirens sounded in the Gulf state ahead of what was believed to have been another Iranian attack.
- Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth and Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff Gen. Dan Caine are slated to appear before the Senate Appropriations Committee this morning to testify about the Trump administration’s $88 billion supplemental funding request for the Pentagon.
- The House Intelligence Committee is convening a hearing today on the next generation of terror threats, with former National Security Advisor H. R. McMaster set to testify.
- Arizona is holding its primaries today, with the GOP’s gubernatorial race between Reps. Andy Biggs (R-AZ) and Dave Schweikert (R-AZ) taking center billing. The winner will face Democratic Gov. Katie Hobbs in November.
- We’re also closely watching the primary results in Arizona’s 1st District, a swing district based in Scottsdale with a sizable Jewish population, which Schweikert is vacating to run for governor. The Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee is backing former TV news anchor Marlene Galan-Woods over former state Rep. Amish Shah, who was the party’s 2024 nominee. The GOP front-runner is former NFL kicker and CBS Sports sideline reporter Jay Feely.
- In New York, Jewish Women International is hosting a day-long workshop series focused on Jewish women in the workplace.
- More than a dozen Jewish and pro-Israel groups, including the Conference of Presidents of Major American Jewish Organizations, the Israeli-American Council, the Jewish Federations of North America and Christians United for Israel, are hosting a virtual tribute to Sen. Lindsey Graham (R-SC) tonight ahead of his funeral next week.
- The three-day Gulf Research Meeting kicks off today in Cambridge, U.K. Speakers include Saudi Foreign Minister Prince Faisal bin Farhan Al Saud; Qatari Foreign Ministry spokesperson Majed al-Ansari; Mohammed Ibrahim Al Dhaheri, the deputy director of the United Arab Emirates’ Anwar Gargash Diplomatic Academy; and Arab World Institute President Anne-Claire Legendre.
What You Should Know
A QUICK WORD WITH JI’S MELISSA WEISS
In recent weeks, following the collapse of the memorandum of understanding between Washington and Tehran and the closure of the Strait of Hormuz, Iran has fired dozens of times on Jordan, Saudi Arabia, Iraq, Bahrain, Kuwait, Qatar and the United Arab Emirates.
At the same time, it has sustained fire from the U.S., whose military bases across the region have been targeted by the Islamic Republic, with several service members killed. And all the while, Tehran has targeted commercial ships transiting through the strait.
But as focus on the conflict with Iran has shifted from addressing the Islamic Republic’s nuclear ambitions to the Strait of Hormuz, Israel has stayed out of the fighting — despite Iranian threats earlier this month to target the Jewish state if the U.S. attacks did not cease.
There is no upside for Israel to reenter the fight, especially when the issue of the Strait of Hormuz falls outside of the objectives set by Israel at the start of the war earlier this year. (This, despite the widespread sentiment among Israelis that this year’s war did not improve Israel’s security situation, according to polling last month from the Israel Democracy Institute.)
Key among the goals laid out by Israel was degrading Iran’s ballistic missile program and setting back elements of its nuclear program. Reopening Hormuz is an American objective, not an Israeli one. With Israel having made the calculus that the most immediate Iranian threats have been blunted — at least in the short term — the current mission has become an American one.
“Israel’s best move is to not move — yet,” Mark Dubowitz, the CEO of the Foundation for Defense of Democracies, told Jewish Insider this morning. “Washington does the striking. Israel keeps its fire and its threats in reserve, waiting for one of two triggers: a U.S. request to join, or an Iranian regime foolish enough to hit Israel and invite the reprisal that has been promised.”
Despite Iran’s threats to target Israel, such a move would likely be a strategic misstep for the Islamic Republic. Iran’s blockade of the strait and its attacks on Arab and Gulf states are an attempt to reassert its dominance over the region and demonstrate its ability to impact the global energy market. Tehran also appears to be betting that sustained attacks across the region will push Arab states to pressure the U.S. to accept an agreement to reopen the strait, handing the Islamic Republic a win.
BLUE STATE BLUES
Washington state’s Jewish Democrats fight for a place in a party they no longer recognize
The past few years of rising tensions in the Democratic Party over Israel and antisemitism have been marked for many Jewish Democrats in Washington — one of the country’s bluest states, which has a Jewish population of about 90,000 — by disappointment, anger and a growing sense of isolation within a party they have spent decades supporting. But the answer, they say, is not to walk away; rather, it’s to try to reclaim influence from within, Jewish Insider’s Danielle Cohen-Kanik reports.
Rebuilding: That effort begins with rebuilding the party’s own Jewish infrastructure. The Washington State Democratic Party’s Jewish caucus has gone “by the wayside, because it takes a lot of organizing and energy to keep it up,” said Linda Clifton, a longtime member of the caucus. “It’s all volunteer [work], and people had other jobs and other things they had to pay attention to. I think we need to revive it, and there’s been some effort to do that … but I think people are so disheartened that that becomes very difficult,” she continued.
FRIENDLY FIRE
Bernie Sanders’ 2020 Jewish liaison says his old boss is promoting antisemitism
Joel Rubin, a former State Department official who led Jewish outreach for Sen. Bernie Sanders’ (I-VT) 2020 presidential campaign, is now excoriating his former boss and the movement he has built for elevating stridently anti-Israel candidates — most notably former Maine Senate candidate Graham Platner, Jewish Insider’s Marc Rod reports.
Notable quotable: “I think what Sanders and the Sanders operation have done is shove into our system the most categorically anti-Israel, antisemitic candidates that we’ve seen in a generation — if ever, certainly within the Democratic Party — and it’s by design,” Rubin said in an interview with JI last week at the Aspen Security Forum. “It’s not by accident, and it’s very disruptive intentionally. The goal is to undermine Democratic unity and even rationality on Israel at this stage.”
More Dem dynamics: Sen. John Fetterman (D-PA) said in an interview with JI’s Emily Jacobs on Monday that the votes by more than 100 House Democrats last week in favor of an effort to end all U.S. aid to Israel indicate the party is “flirting with” making opposition to Israel the official party stance, something he said would lead him to leave the caucus.
NOT SO FUNNY MONEY
Michigan Dem who praised grandfather’s Nazi military service hosting fundraiser for Abdul El-Sayed
Michigan Senate candidate Abdul El-Sayed is slated to appear at a campaign fundraiser this weekend that is co-hosted by Kelly Neumann, a controversial Democratic fundraiser in Michigan who faced scrutiny earlier this year for a 2024 Facebook post on Veterans Day that praised her grandfather, who fought for the Nazis in World War II, Jewish Insider’s Gabby Deutch reports.
Pulled out: Sen. Elizabeth Warren (D-MA), who endorsed El-Sayed on Monday, was initially listed as a speaker at the Saturday event hosted by Neumann, though Neumann and the campaign removed Warren from their promotional materials after JI inquired about the senator’s role. Warren is speaking at a rally for El-Sayed later that day.
ACROSS THE POND
Ed Miliband’s appointment as U.K. foreign secretary indicates tougher British policy toward Israel to come
Ed Miliband’s appointment on Monday as U.K. foreign secretary is raising questions about how the former Labour chief will influence Israel and Middle East policy under Andy Burnham, the country’s new prime minister, Jewish Insider’s Matthew Kassel reports. As the first Jewish leader of the Labour party, which he helmed from 2010-2015, Miliband has long balanced his commitment to Israel’s security with vocal criticism of the Jewish state that has fueled some tensions with British Jewish leaders.
Israel approach: During his past tenure as Labour leader, Miliband “certainly wasn’t an instinctive supporter of Israel, but he also wasn’t as hostile as some expected given his background,” Arieh Kovler, a political analyst in Jerusalem who previously served as the director of policy and research for Britain’s Jewish Leadership Council, told JI. “But that was a decade ago. Attitudes to Israel have hardened across British politics and the Labour Party with it.”
BACKTRACK
Mamdani hedges on campaign pledge to arrest Netanyahu
New York City Mayor Zohran Mamdani seemed to shy away on Monday from a campaign vow — referenced in an interview over the weekend — to arrest Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, even as he continued to lob rhetorical fusillades at the leader of the Jewish state, Jewish Insider’s Will Bredderman reports.
What he said: Mamdani seemed to acknowledge on Monday that such a move might exceed his authority. “My administration will follow all applicable local laws, that is our commitment, that is something we will follow through on, when it comes to adherence to local laws,” the mayor told reporters after an unrelated event, stressing again when pressed: “We will follow our local laws.”
View from 1600 Pennsylvania Ave.: President Donald Trump posted on his Truth Social site that Netanyahu would not be arrested “in any way, shape, or form” while in the U.S.
SHE’S RUNNING
Darline Graham to run for full Senate term at Trump’s urging
Sen. Darline Graham (R-SC) said that she will run in next month’s special election to replace her brother, the late Sen. Lindsey Graham (R-SC), on the ballot as the GOP nominee for Senate in November, Jewish Insider’s Emily Jacobs reports.
Mind made up: Graham, who was appointed last week to serve out the remainder of her brother’s term in the Senate, announced her decision to run for a full term in an interview with Fox News’ Sean Hannity on Monday. “I’ve made a decision,” Graham said. “I’m in.” Graham told Hannity, a friend of her late brother’s, that she had been “praying a lot” and “talking to my family” about the decision, which she acknowledged she needed to make at an expedited pace due to the week-long filing period for candidates beginning on Tuesday.
Worthy Reads
Eye on 2028: The Atlantic’s Mark Leibovich interviews Sen. Mark Kelly (D-AZ) and his wife, former Rep. Gabby Giffords (D-AZ), about Kelly’s presidential considerations, Giffords’ recovery after a 2011 shooting and Kelly’s shortlisting as former Vice President Kamala Harris vetted potential running mates. “Kelly told me that he’d only ‘read parts’ of Harris’s memoir. Presumably, these were the parts that corresponded to mentions of ‘Kelly, Mark.’ He smiled when I suggested this and did not deny it. When I brought up that Harris said she was concerned that he wasn’t tested as a national candidate, Kelly grew more openly annoyed than I might have expected, given how beside the point the topic is now. … He also noted, sarcastically, that some people apparently found it charming that Walz asked for Diet Mountain Dew to drink during his VP interview. ‘[Gov. Josh] Shapiro and I asked for water,’ he said, smirking.” [TheAtlantic]
Tehran’s Tactics: In The Wall Street Journal, Reuel Marc Gerecht and Ray Takeyh posit that Iran’s ability to withstand international economic pressure and U.S. strikes has given the Islamic Republic a “wartime advantage” over Washington. “Today’s conflict with the U.S. and Israel lets senior guard commanders, lowly IRGC foot soldiers and the rest of the theocracy’s security forces feel the fraternity of resistance against the regime’s enemies. For a dictatorship that lost most Iranians’ loyalty years ago, these wars were a boon. The zeal of the revolutionary faithful has baffled many Iranian expatriates and analysts, who see a morally, spiritually and financially bankrupt regime.” [WSJ]
Kuwait in the Crosshairs: The Financial Times’ Ahmed Al Omran looks at how the Iranian attacks across the Gulf have affected Kuwait, which has been targeted by more than 1,500 missiles and drones since the start of the war. “The sense of fear is particularly potent in Kuwait, which is still scarred by the trauma of the 1990 Iraqi invasion — a unique experience that sets it apart from other Gulf Arab states. Since the US-Israeli war against Iran started in February, Kuwait’s proximity to the Islamic republic and high concentration of American troops have made it an easy target for Tehran’s short-range missiles. … But the intensity and frequency of the attacks came as a surprise to some observers in Kuwait, which before the war enjoyed relatively cordial relations with Iran.” [FT]
A larger selection of Worthy Reads is available in our Live Briefing.
Word on the Street
Amid its escalating conflict with Iran, the White House’s social media feed posted a three-week-old poll on Monday from a right-wing polling firm indicating Americans support the U.S.-Iran memorandum of understanding established last month, JI’s Haley Cohen reports…
The Pentagon confirmed a New York Times report that nearly 100 American troops stationed in Jordan have been injured by Iranian attacks over the last two weeks as the Islamic Republic targets U.S. bases in the region; several of the strikes had not been made public prior to the Times’ reporting…
Israeli intelligence shared with the U.S. indicates that Iran moved thousands of centrifuges into its clandestine Pickaxe Mountain site last fall, following the 12-day war in June; read more about Pickaxe Mountain here…
The Wall Street Journal spotlights the “once-unthinkable” ideas being mulled by Washington, Beirut and Jerusalem to disarm Hezbollah in Lebanon…
The New Yorker‘s David Kirkpatrick talks to former Biden administration officials about the Biden White House’s policies toward Israel and Gaza at the height of the conflict between Israel and Hamas…
Rep. Mike Collins (R-GA), who is challenging Sen. Jon Ossoff (D-GA), removed from his campaign website family photos that featured his son-in-law, who was found to have promoted white nationalism and Nazi ideology online…
The Washington Post reports on the volatile temperament of Troy Jackson, who is expected to replace Graham Platner as the Democratic Senate candidate in Maine, during the time that Jackson served as the head of the state Senate…
Axios examines how Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez’s (D-NY) rhetoric as she campaigns for Democrats around the country resembles former President Barack Obama’s own early campaign rhetoric following the launch of his 2008 presidential bid…
Politico looks at how New York City Mayor Zohran Mamdani has alienated portions of the city’s electorate — including the Black, Jewish and Latino communities — that have traditionally had close ties with City Hall…
The New York Times interviews New York state Assemblymember Micah Lasher about his childhood hobby of performing magic; the New York Democrat, who won last month’s Democratic primary to succeed Rep. Jerry Nadler (D-NY), in 1996 published The Magic of Micah Lasher, and performed on national television as a child…
Adam Hamawy and Darializa Avila Chevalier, who won their respective Democratic congressional primaries against more moderate candidates in part by attacking Israel on the campaign trail, were announced as the keynote speakers at the Council on American-Islamic Relations’ annual gala in Washington…
Hungarian chess grandmaster Judit Polgar turned down Hungarian Prime Minister Péter Magyar’s offer to serve as the country’s interim president, saying she felt she lacked “the strength to take on the historic responsibility of uniting a divided nation” in the post-Viktor Orbán era…
The president of the Australian Association of Jewish Holocaust Survivors and Descendants testified before the country’s royal commission investigating antisemitism that increasing antisemitism in the country has “disturbing parallels” to Nazi Germany, but that he did not believe that the country was “becoming another Germany in the 1930s,” owing to Australia’s “democratic institutions, legal system and civilian civil society”…
OpenAI is reportedly starting a business development operation in Israel, having hired a senior Israeli executive from Amazon Web Services to lead the effort to develop relationships in the Israeli high-tech sector…
Air France paused its flights to and from Dubai until next week; the airline is also temporarily suspending its routes to Saudi Arabia until later this week…
Hamas announced Khalil Al-Hayya, the terror group’s top negotiator in Qatar, as its new leader; Al-Hayya succeeds Yahya Sinwar, who was killed by the IDF in October 2024…
Former Israeli Strategic Affairs Minister Ron Dermer is rejoining the Jewish Institute for National Security of America as a distinguished fellow, a position he previously held from 2021 to 2022…
Pic of the Day
Demonstrators from the Union of Jewish Students of France protested on Monday outside the Paris headquarters of French far-left party La France Insoumise following the interruption over the weekend of a Jewish DJ’s concert in Grenoble. La France Insoumise had for months been calling for a boycott of Barbara Butch’s show last Saturday, which was disrupted by anti-Israel activists.
Birthdays
Retired CEO of Sony/ATV, a large music publishing firm, he is a member of the Songwriters Hall of Fame, Martin Bandier turns 85…
President at Admar Group, Henry Dean Ostberg turns 98… Professor in the physics department at Bar-Ilan University, he won the Israel Prize in 2018, Shlomo Havlin turns 84… Director of the Center for the Political Future at USC, Robert Shrum turns 83… Criminal defense attorney, known for representing many politicians, celebrities and organized crime defendants, Benjamin Brafman turns 78… Former member of the U.K.’s House of Commons, now in the House of Lords, Baroness Susan Veronica Kramer turns 76… Senate majority whip (R-WY), John Barrasso turns 74… Chairman and CEO at Quantitative Financial Strategies, Sanford “Sandy” Jay Grossman turns 73… Endocrinologist and professor at Columbia University’s medical school, she is an honorary president of NYC’s Central Synagogue, Shonni Joy Silverberg, MD… Professor at Columbia Law School and daughter of the late Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg, Jane Carol Ginsburg turns 71… Brooklyn resident, Irene Ostrovsky… Comedian and actor, best known for his five seasons on “Saturday Night Live” ending in 1990, Jon Lovitz turns 69… Former chief rabbi of Moscow, his opposition to the Ukraine war forced him to leave Russia, Rabbi Pinchas Goldschmidt turns 63… Literary agent at the William Morris Endeavor book department, Eric Matthew Simonoff turns 59… Actor and producer, Alysia Reiner turns 56… Professor of astronomy at MIT and winner of a 2013 MacArthur Genius Award, Sara Seager turns 55… Brazilian fashion designer best known for avant-garde designs and eclectic prints, Alexandre Herchcovitch turns 55… CEO of Fanatics, licensed sports merchandise and digital sports platform, Michael G. Rubin turns 54… Founder, president and CEO of Securing America’s Future Energy (SAFE) and the Electrification Coalition, Raphael “Robbie” Diamond… Rabbi of Congregation Bais Naftali in Los Angeles, his YouTube channel has over 4.6 million views, Rabbi Yoel Gold… Online media personality and director of product management at Electronic Arts (EA) in British Columbia, Veronica Belmont turns 44… CEO of Women of Reform Judaism since 2023, Rabbi Liz P.G. Hirsch… Clinical social worker, Aniko Gomory-Pink… Entrepreneur and political activist, she came to prominence as an African-American pro-Israel student activist at the U of New Orleans, Chloé Simone Valdary turns 33… Policy advisor at Brownstein Hyatt Farber Schreck, Zachary A. Marshall… Senior recruiter at Tines, Rachel Elizabeth Nieves… Attorney in Madrid and secretary general of the Federation of Jewish Communities of Spain until 2021, Elias Cohen…
Elizabeth Warren, who is speaking at a rally for El-Sayed later that day, was originally billed as a speaker for the event but was since removed from event publicity
Sarah Rice/Getty Images
Abdul El-Sayed, candidate for US Senate in Michigan, speaks at Mumford High School on May 3, 2026 in Detroit, Michigan.
Michigan Senate candidate Abdul El-Sayed is slated to appear at a campaign fundraiser this weekend that is co-hosted by Kelly Neumann, a controversial Democratic fundraiser in Michigan who faced scrutiny earlier this year for a 2024 Facebook post on Veterans Day that praised her grandfather, who fought for the Nazis in World War II.
Sen. Elizabeth Warren (D-MA), who endorsed El-Sayed on Monday, was initially listed as a speaker at the Saturday event hosted by Neumann, though Neumann and the campaign removed Warren from their promotional materials after Jewish Insider inquired about the senator’s role. Warren is speaking at a rally for El-Sayed later that day.
A spokesperson for El-Sayed said Warren’s “inclusion on the flier was a clerical error by our campaign” and that she was never scheduled to speak at the fundraiser. A spokesperson for Warren declined to comment.
In Neumann’s November 2024 post, which was previously reported by JI, she said her grandfather, Albert Neumann, fought “on the German side in WWI & WWII.” She noted that he “was one of the first people in my life that accepted me as gay” and described him as “a true testament that people can change and love indeed can win.”
Neumann, a Michigan attorney, has since deleted the post after it resurfaced earlier this year. In a March 2026 Facebook post, she apologized “to anyone who was hurt by [my] post from years ago, as that was certainly never my intention,” but blamed Rep. Haley Stevens’ (D-MI) Senate campaign for unearthing the original post.
Neumann had endorsed state Sen. Mallory McMorrow, but after McMorrow dropped out early this month, Neumann backed El-Sayed. Neumann hosted a fundraiser for Stevens’ House reelection campaign last year.
A spokesperson for Stevens told JI in January that Stevens would not have invited Neumann to host the event if Stevens had “seen the post celebrating Ms. Neumann’s grandfather’s service to the SS.” (The Daily Mail reported later that Neumann’s grandfather was likely in the German Wehrmacht, or armed forces, rather than the Nazi SS.)
“The host in question has hosted or donated to several democratic senators, congresspeople, statewide elected officials and candidates, including Abdul’s opponent, Congresswoman Stevens,” a spokesperson for El-Sayed told JI. “All of us, including the host, condemn Nazi ideology.”
Neumann defended her grandfather even as she apologized for the original post. “To be clear, my grandfather was a german soldier, not a nazi,” Neumann wrote in March. In a phone call with JI on Monday, Neumann stood by this assertion and claimed that a representative from Germany’s Ministry of Defense told her the same thing.
“All I know is that I’ve been informed as a child, in growing up, and then recently again, is that they said he wasn’t a Nazi,” Neumann said. “I believe there is a distinction between a young German soldier and a Nazi in the actual regime close to Hitler.”
The U.S. Holocaust Memorial Museum calls the idea that German soldiers were not part of the Nazi regime a “myth.”
“This belief is untrue. The German military participated in many aspects of the Holocaust: in supporting Hitler, in the use of forced labor, and in the mass murder of Jews and other groups targeted by the Nazis,” the museum states on its website.
Neumann’s political resume is lengthy. She served as a co-chair of the finance committee for McMorrow’s Senate campaign. She also previously worked to support gubernatorial candidate Jocelyn Benson, Michigan’s secretary of state, though Neumann has since endorsed Chris Swanson, a long-shot challenger to Benson.
Neumann told JI that she is “not antisemitic in any sort of way,” and that she regularly hosts events for Jewish politicians. Last year she hosted a fundraiser for Michigan state Sen. Jeremy Moss, a Jewish Democrat who is running for Congress.
“I’m not proud of my grandfather being in World War II as a young German soldier,” said Neumann. “What I am proud about is how he was so kind to me and accepted me as a minority in the ‘90s.”
The Maine Democrat, who won his primary in June, had been dogged by controversy for months before a rape allegation finally cost him his political allies
Photo by Laura Brett/Getty Images
Democratic U.S. Senate candidate Graham Platner speaks to voters at a town hall on June 7, 2026 in Portland, Maine.
Maine Senate candidate Graham Platner, the scandal-plagued progressive insurgent, announced on Wednesday evening that he plans to drop out of the race amid intense pressure, two days after a former romantic partner accused him of rape.
Even as he announced his withdrawal, Platner remained defiant, claiming that the allegations against him were a conspiracy aimed at forcing him out of the race.
The sexual assault allegation by Jenny Racicot, who shared the details of the incident with Politico, followed months of controversies — including allegations of domestic abuse — that Platner withstood with the backing of top Democrats, including Sens. Elizabeth Warren (D-MA) and Bernie Sanders (I-VT) and, after the primary, Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer (D-NY). He lost the support of his political allies after the report was published on Monday.
Even before that, Platner had been dogged by controversy for months. Last October, Platner acknowledged that he had a tattoo of a Nazi symbol known as a Totenkopf for nearly two decades.
He denied knowing what the symbol meant, but a past acquaintance told Jewish Insider that Platner was aware of its Nazi association. Another former romantic partner, Lyndsey Fifield, who accused Platner of domestic violence, shared text messages with the New York Times showing she had informed friends of the Nazi symbol months before it became public knowledge and said he and his Marine colleagues had chosen the symbol deliberately.
In Reddit posts, Platner regularly used slurs, criticized sexual assault victims and praised Hamas’ tactics during the terror group’s 2014 war against Israel.
In his announcement, Platner continued to deny the sexual assault allegation, claiming that “large forces,” the “corporate media” and the “political establishment” are conspiring against him — specifically timed in order to force him off the ballot before the drop-out deadline next week.
“We live in a political system that is not built for normal people,” Platner asserted. “It is a system that is built structurally to make sure that movements like ours cannot flourish, that if they begin to succeed, they can be crushed. … We did it the way that we were told we are supposed to make change, and we won, and now they are not going to let us have it, not if it’s me.”
He said he’s leaving the race because “those in power … are using these allegations as an excuse” to block his ability to fundraise, access voter data and otherwise campaign.
Platner insisted he was not attempting to influence the process to replace him on the ballot — a claim disputed by the Maine Democratic Party and numerous news reports. He said that the process “needs to be open, transparent and democratic” and not shaped by “party apparatchiks” or party leadership in Washington.
He also said he “intend[s] to file my paperwork to withdraw,” indicating he had not yet actually done so.
In his statement, Platner also referenced his repeated claim that Israel committed genocide in Gaza, a charge that had become central to his campaign.
“All we were asking for was healthcare, was to end the genocide, to use our taxpayer dollars at home to uplift our communities, instead of waging war overseas,” Platner said.
Shortly before Platner’s announcement, the Maine Democratic Party’s state committee members met and voted to hold a nominating convention to choose a new nominee should Platner withdraw from the ballot. Party leaders said they’d disclose further details about the process “soon.”
Media reports indicate that county committees would be charged with selecting 500 to 600 total delegates for the convention.
In a text message to supporters on Wednesday, Platner’s campaign manager claimed that the Maine Democratic Party has been coordinating behind closed doors with the Democratic Senatorial Campaign Committee to cut Platner’s camp and supporters out of the nominating process.
Platner entered the Senate race to challenge Sen. Susan Collins (R-ME), a five-term incumbent, last August. From the beginning of the race, he touted his bona fides as a veteran who served in Iraq and Afghanistan and positioned himself as an anti-war candidate. He has blamed his past conduct on PTSD and his resulting alcohol dependence.
From the beginning, Platner positioned himself as a working-class outsider taking on the establishment — including both Collins and the Democratic establishment, which was backing Janet Mills, Maine’s governor, in the Democratic primary. His viral first campaign video was produced by Morris Katz, a political consultant who had also made political ads for New York City Mayor Zohran Mamdani.
Criticism of Israel was central to Platner’s campaign. He regularly attacked AIPAC and described Collins as “bought and paid for by [Israeli Prime Minister] Benjamin Netanyahu.” Liberal Jewish groups, including the Jewish Democratic Council of America and J Street, had opted not to endorse Platner, even after Mills dropped out of the race in April. Platner handily won the Democratic primary in June. Mills did not endorse him.
Democrats saw the race as a possible pickup opportunity in a midterm election year when many voters in the purple state are disillusioned by President Donald Trump.
Numerous Maine Democrats have already announced plans or filed paperwork to take Platner’s place on the ballot, including former Maine Centers for Disease Control Director Nirav Shah, former state Senate President Troy Jackson, former House candidate Jordan Wood, former Senate candidate David Costello, Secretary of State Shenna Bellows, former House candidate Paige Loud, state Rep. Valli Geiger and brewery owner Dan Kleban.
Geiger claimed on Wednesday that she was Platner’s preferred replacement, but a campaign spokesperson denied that, though the spokesperson said he had encouraged her to run if he dropped out.
Potential replacements for Platner are lining up to be considered as his successor
Laura Brett/Getty Images
Democratic U.S. Senate candidate Graham Platner speaks to voters at a town hall at the Elks Lodge 188 on June 7, 2026 in Portland, Maine.
The Maine Democratic Party accused Senate candidate Graham Platner on Tuesday of attempting to “put his thumb on the scale” to influence whom the party chooses to replace him on the ticket, as a growing wave of Democrats in the state position themselves to run for the seat.
The charge by party officials comes a day after a former romantic partner accused Platner of sexual assault and as many of his key supporters urge him to suspend his campaign.
Additional allegations of nonconsensual sexual conduct emerged on Tuesday, in a new Washington Post interview with another former romantic partner of Platner who had previously accused him of domestic abuse. Platner’s campaign has denied all of the allegations.
In a striking video statement released on Tuesday evening, the Maine Democratic Party’s executive director, Devon Murphy-Anderson, said that Platner’s team had “repeatedly reached out to us in an attempt to put their thumb on the scale of what this process looks like.”
“We have repeatedly reiterated to Graham Platner’s team that they have no role in determining our next Democratic nominee for the U.S. Senate, nor in determining what this process looks like,” Murphy-Anderson continued. “We have also reiterated that Graham Platner must drop out of this race, so that Democrats in Maine can focus on defeating Susan Collins this November.”
Murphy-Anderson said the party is developing a new nomination process “that is open, inclusive, transparent and fair,” and that it will lay out that process once Platner drops out.
Multiple outlets have reported that Platner and his advisors are slow-walking an exit from the race, either attempting to ride out the latest scandal or force the party to nominate an approved ally in his place.
The New York Post reported that Morris Katz, a top advisor to Platner, urged him to remain in the race, but Katz said that the Post was not in a position to know about his or the campaign’s deliberations, without directly denying the report.
A Platner campaign spokesperson denied any efforts to influence the replacement process and said Platner wouldn’t want to be part of it but also said “he would want to make sure the voters and volunteers make this decision — not the political establishment.”
Several Democrats who previously ran in the U.S. Senate or gubernatorial primaries have publicly positioned themselves to run for the seat upon Platner’s withdrawal, including former Maine Centers for Disease Control director Nirav Shah, former state Senate President Troy Jackson, former House candidate Jordan Wood, former Senate candidate David Costello, Secretary of State Shenna Bellows and former House candidate Paige Loud.
State Rep. Valli Geiger, a close Platner ally, has also expressed interest and said she would bring on Platner’s staff to her campaign. She said that Planter was “trying to leverage things” to make sure “there is an economic populist who takes his place.”
Retiring Rep. Jared Golden (D-ME) is reportedly fielding calls about the race, but his spokesperson again ruled out a run.
Gov. Janet Mills, who finished in a distant second to Platner in the Senate primary after suspending her campaign, hasn’t addressed the latest allegations or publicly expressed any interest in rejoining the race.
Some erstwhile Platner allies argue that the nomination should pass to an ideologically aligned candidate, with many pointing to Jackson, who was endorsed by the Democratic Socialists of America in his gubernatorial bid, as their preferred successor.
Others, such as Shah, argue that the party should undergo a new nominating process. Shah called for at least one televised debate and multiple town halls across the state for the new candidate.
On Monday, amid speculation that he could be a potential replacement for Platner, Shah said on X that he would not support U.S. aid to Israel and that he believes the country is committing genocide.
Bellows ran against Collins in 2014 and lost by more than 35 percentage points.
The New York Times reported that the Maine Democratic Party plans to hold a “pop-up convention” or statewide caucus on July 25 to select the new nominee, rather than leaving the choice to party leadership alone.
Also on Tuesday, Platner’s campaign lost the remaining major supporters he had maintained.
Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-VT), perhaps Platner’s most crucial Senate endorser, was the last of his prominent supporters to call on him to withdraw from the race, a day after the Maine Democratic Party and Senate Democratic leadership pulled their support, alongside many other Platner supporters.
“I have spoken with Graham Platner about the best path forward for Maine,” Sanders said in a statement. “In light of these very serious allegations, I have recommended that he step aside.”
Sen. Chris Van Hollen (D-MD), another holdout, also called for Platner to exit the race. “These allegations are serious and cannot be ignored. Graham Platner should step aside,” Van Hollen said.
New York City Mayor Zohran Mamdani, whose political rise was shaped by many of the same consultants as Platner’s campaign, likewise urged Platner to leave the race.
Despite not having made any public announcement, Platner’s campaign reportedly canceled all of its upcoming fundraisers and pulled its ads on Facebook and Instagram, signs that the campaign is preparing to wind down.
The unfolding situation in Maine comes amid a broader trend in American politics in which immoral or questionable behavior by one’s peers has at times been ignored or obfuscated to serve a perceived 'greater good'
(CJ Gunther/Getty Images)
Democratic U.S. Senate candidate Graham Platner speaks at his Primary Election event on June 9, 2026 in Blue Hill, Maine.
When an ex-girlfriend of Graham Platner told Politico in a story published on Monday that the Maine Democratic Senate candidate had raped her in 2021 after entering her home while heavily intoxicated, she said she did so because the response to a recent New York Times report on Platner’s past dubious behavior had focused on discrediting Lyndsey Fifield, one of the women who featured prominently in the story, over her ties to the GOP.
Jenny Racicot, a Democrat, hadn’t wanted to go public with the rape accusation (which she had shared off-record with the Times), in part because she and Platner were largely politically aligned. “One of the reasons I didn’t come forward sooner was, the huge moral conflict that I had between supporting his politics, but not supporting him as a person,” Racicot told Politico. “My part of the story [in the NYT] was just a read-over,” Racicot said. “And the story was Lyndsey, and the accusations of her being politically motivated.”
The unfolding situation in Maine comes amid a broader trend in American politics in which immoral or questionable behavior by one’s peers has at times been ignored or obfuscated to serve a perceived “greater good” of electing a political ally despite their failing moral standards.
In recent years, both major parties have increasingly tolerated conduct that would have once been considered disqualifying — even as the #MeToo movement briefly changed the nature of the discourse. Similar arguments have surfaced across political controversies over the last decade (including against President Donald Trump), with supporters of embattled candidates and officials insisting that policy positions outweigh personal conduct and dismissing allegations as politically motivated.
In a short span of time, the 2017 rallying cry of “Believe women” gave way to “Believe women whose politics align with ours” — a mindset that extended to the widespread denial of Hamas’ sexual violence during the Oct. 7, 2023, terror attacks and against the Israeli hostages kept in captivity in Gaza.
But yesterday’s Politico report, which prompted calls from Platner’s most prominent backers — including Rep. Ro Khanna (D-CA) and Sens. Elizabeth Warren (D-MA) and Ruben Gallego (D-AZ) — for him to end his bid, may mark the point at which previous defenses of the Maine Democrat become politically untenable.
Since shortly after the launch of his campaign, Platner — a virtual unknown before last summer — has faced numerous controversies, from his tattoo of an SS totenkopf to Reddit comments praising Hamas tactics to the revelation that he exchanged inappropriate messages with numerous women despite being married. The Wall Street Journal reported last month that Platner’s vetting process — normally a weeks-long process — took place in a matter of days, expedited by Platner’s top strategist and done at a fraction of the cost of a standard background check, which likely would have flagged at least some of these issues.
Yet none of those allegations proved politically fatal — and Platner ended up winning the Democratic primary with 72% of the vote. Platner’s defenders echoed the rhetoric of many of Trump’s early backers: that the party establishment had targeted him, that the media had unfairly covered the incidents and that a candidate’s positions, rather than their personal lives, should be on the ballot.
Unlike Trump, who was weeks away from his 2016 presidential victory when the infamous “Access Hollywood” tape leaked, Platner had only recently clinched his party’s nomination after Gov. Janet Mills ended her bid. He can still be replaced on the ballot, provided he exits the race by next Monday, though any new candidate will face a much more difficult battle against Sen. Susan Collins (R-ME) in what had been the Democrats’ best hope for a pickup and control of the Senate.
Now, the question is whether American politics still has a meaningful threshold beyond which partisan leanings give way to concerns about character and ethics — or whether that threshold has simply become much higher than it once was.
Senate leaders threatened to withhold funding from the race if Platner remains the nominee, while several of his progressive backers rescinded their endorsements
Laura Brett/Getty Images
Democratic U.S. Senate candidate Graham Platner speaks to voters at a town hall at the Elks Lodge 188 on June 7, 2026 in Portland, Maine.
Democratic leaders coalesced around calls for Maine Senate candidate Graham Platner to withdraw from the race on Monday following a Politico report in which an ex-girlfriend of Platner’s accused the Democrat of sexual assault, an account the outlet backed up with her correspondence and other interviews.
Platner denied the allegation outright but said in a video statement that he’s “mindful of the political reality it will inflict” and would be “taking the time to reflect on the best path forward.” If Platner voluntarily drops out by July 13, the Maine Democratic Party would have until July 27 to pick a replacement to appear on the ballot.
Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer (D-NY) and Sen. Kirsten Gillibrand (D-NY), the chair of the Democratic Senatorial Campaign Committee, said in a joint statement that Platner should withdraw, and that the DSCC would not invest financially in the Maine Senate race if Platner remained the nominee.
“The allegations reported today are incredibly disturbing — violence, abuse and sexual assault are absolutely unacceptable,” Schumer and Gillibrand said. “Graham Platner needs to immediately withdraw as the Democratic nominee for Senate and allow Maine Democrats the opportunity to choose a new candidate who can defeat Susan Collins.”
Schumer and Gillibrand had offered tepid support for Platner in the wake of previous scandals he has weathered on the campaign trail.
Senate Majority PAC, the Senate Democratic super PAC, said in a statement that Platner should withdraw and that the PAC would be “redirecting resources away from the Maine Senate race.” The group said the race would be winnable “if Platner is not on the ballot.”
The Maine Democratic Party’s leadership also called on Platner to end his candidacy.
“Over the past several weeks, multiple women have made serious, credible allegations against Graham Platner. Today’s statements take those allegations even further,” party leaders said in a statement. “Maine Democratic Party leadership is calling on Graham Platner to withdraw as the Democratic nominee for U.S. Senate.”
The party leaders said it’s “essential that we refocus this campaign” on defeating Sen. Susan Collins (R-ME) and the Trump administration.
Maine Statehouse Speaker Ryan Fecteau, a Democrat, also called on Platner to drop out, saying it’s clear that he cannot win the seat.
Several prominent progressives who had previously defended and supported Platner, even through his previous scandals and controversies — including his now-covered Nazi tattoo and domestic abuse allegations — also said that the latest sexual assault allegations were a breaking point.
Sen. Elizbeth Warren (D-MA) said that there can be “no tolerance for sexual assault” and that “the best path forward is for Graham Platner to step aside.”
“I’ve been very clear that sexual assault or violence against women is a red line. These allegations are very serious and credible. Graham Platner should drop out from the race. I am withdrawing my endorsement,” Rep. Ro Khanna (D-CA) said on Monday evening.
Sen. Ruben Gallego (D-AZ) called the allegations “troubling and deeply serious” and likewise rescinded his endorsement.
Sen. Ed Markey (D-MA) said, “The allegations reported against Graham Platner are deeply disturbing and must be taken seriously. I cannot support his candidacy.”
Sen. Martin Heinrich (D-NM) similarly rescinded his endorsement and called for Platner to step aside.
Some of Platner’s prominent media boosters also said that they wanted to see him pull out of the race or otherwise criticized him.
“Platner needs to drop out ASAP — these are awful, credible allegations,” said Jon Favreau, co-host of “Pod Save America.” “It’s now abundantly clear that he just hasn’t been honest about his past and can’t be trusted as a candidate for office.”
Sens. Bernie Sanders (I-VT), one of Platner’s most prominent progressive backers, has not yet addressed the latest allegations.
The End Citizens United PAC also pulled its support for Platner, as did the Sanders-linked Our Revolution, though the group warned “the Democratic establishment: this is not your opening.” TrackAIPAC also pulled its endorsement of Platner.
Rep. Haley Stevens (D-MI), who is running for U.S. Senate in Michigan, also condemned Platner, who campaigned alongside her primary rival, Abdul El-Sayed.
“The allegations against Graham Platner are extremely troubling and completely unacceptable,” Stevens said. “There should be no room for this conduct in the U.S. Senate or any public office. Graham Platner must step aside.”
Numerous other Democratic Senate candidates followed her. El-Sayed, in a statement, did not unequivocally call for Platner to withdraw.
Speculation has already turned to who might replace Platner on the ballot, with many pointing to logger and former state Senate President Troy Jackson, a former gubernatorial candidate who finished third in the 2026 primary, as an alternative choice with a similar background and politics to Platner.
Jackson also campaigned alongside and supported Platner, something that could hinder his electoral prospects.
Jackson was endorsed by the Maine Democratic Socialists of America in his gubernatorial bid.
Former acting Centers for Disease Control Director Nirav Shah, who finished second in the primary, has also been floated as a potential replacement and has reportedly expressed interest.
Maine Gov. Janet Mills, the favored candidate of the Democratic establishment who suspended her campaign for the seat before the primary, could also see a second wind.
A recent poll also tested “Grey’s Anatomy” star and Maine resident Patrick Dempsey’s popularity in the state, as well as Secretary of State Shenna Bellows, who also ran in the gubernatorial primary; state Sen. Joe Baldacci; former House candidate Jordan Wood; Rep. Chellie Pingree (D-ME); former state Rep. Sara Gideon, who lost to Collins in 2020; former Rep. John Baldacci (D-ME); Attorney General Aaron Frey; and former Rep. Mike Michaud (D-ME).
State Sen. Baldacci said that the party “can’t handpick a replacement candidate without some process involving all Democrats” in the state.
Retiring Rep. Jared Golden (D-ME), who had been eyed by Democrats as a potential recruit for the seat, said last month that he was not interested in replacing Platner on the ballot.
El-Sayed suggests anti-Israel activists indicted because of beliefs, not alleged criminal conspiracy
‘It's a lot more about what you're advocating for that gets you indicted or not indicted, rather than what you did,’ El-Sayed said
Evan Cobb for The Washington Post via Getty Images
Michigan Senate candidate Abdul El-Sayed speaks with customers and barbers at Blazin Wade Cuts in Grand Rapids, Michigan, on Saturday, Feb. 21, 2026.
Abdul El-Sayed, the far-left Democratic Senate candidate in Michigan, suggested at an event on Friday that the Trump administration had indicted a group of anti-Israel demonstrators at the University of Michigan for their beliefs, rather than their actions.
The eight defendants, including a former staffer on El-Sayed’s campaign, who were indicted Friday have been accused of a campaign of intimidation against university officials they saw as pro-Israel and vandalism of local Jewish organizations.
“It’s a lot more about what you’re advocating for that gets you indicted or not indicted, rather than what you did,” El-Sayed said, at a Friday campaign event, according to The Detroit News.
Speaking to reporters after the event, El-Sayed said that it’s “just wrong, full stop” to target families, businesses and property as the indicted individuals alleged did, but also drew a contrast between the treatment of the eight indicted individuals and the Trump administration’s mass pardon of those involved in the Jan. 6, 2021, attack on the U.S. Capitol.
“I believe in justice, because I believe that when you break the law, you should be held accountable, but I don’t love watching our justice system treat people differently based on what it is that they were advocating for,” El-Sayed said. “Targeting people, families, properties, businesses is wrong, of course it’s wrong, but it’s also wrong when Jan. 6 terrorists do it. To watch the same Trump administration use these terms in certain ways — I think we all need to be asking the questions.”
El-Sayed previously faced criticism for his response to the attack on Temple Israel in West Bloomfield, Mich., which some saw as excusing or rationalizing the attack.
Rep. Haley Stevens (D-MI) on X condemned El-Sayed for his “equivocation.”
“The reported planned violence and intimidation at the University of Michigan is wrong. This is simple and any leader should be able to say so,” she said. “The fact my opponent cannot bring himself to say that is concerning.”
In remarks to reporters, she said that she was “concerned about [El-Sayed’s] repeated patterns of embracing political violence and being out of step with Michigan voters,” pointing also to his decision to rally with far-left influencer Hasan Piker at the University of Michigan.
“We need leaders who are going to showcase leadership and be the leaders that we deserve, not continue to divide us and compensate for when people commit violence or threaten violence for political purposes,” she said.
Her comments have prompted scorn from El-Sayed’s campaign and allies.
Rep. Rashida Tlaib (D-MI) responded to Stevens’ X post by copying Stevens’ wording to criticize Stevens for refusing to describe the war in Gaza as a genocide.
Roxie Richner, El-Sayed’s communications director, accused Stevens on X of “sid[ing] with the Trump administration” and said she “can’t string two coherent sentences together.”
“Leadership requires that you have moral clarity and can say words that make sense when put in order,” Richner continued.
The Michigan Senate contender accepted $7k from the chair of Al-Awda/PRRC — and hired her son
Evan Cobb for The Washington Post via Getty Images
Michigan Senate candidate Abdul El-Sayed speaks with customers and barbers at Blazin Wade Cuts in Grand Rapids, Michigan, on Saturday, Feb. 21, 2026.
Democratic Michigan Senate candidate Abdul El-Sayed has taken donations from a deep-pocketed activist whose group spearheaded the pro-Hamas protests that targeted a Queens synagogue in January — while the far-left candidate has at the same time paid tens of thousands in campaign funds to her son, Jewish Insider has found.
The latest Federal Election Commission filings show El-Sayed has received a total of $7,000 from Amani Barakat, the chair of Al-Awda-Palestinian Right of Return Coalition and a promoter of antisemitic conspiracy theories linking Jewish people to the Illuminati.
It’s part of $33,550 that El-Sayed has taken in total from the Barakat family, a Palestinian-American real estate dynasty based in Southern California.
But records show the money has flowed both ways, as El-Sayed’s committee has given $10,000 a month since December to a newly formed consulting firm belonging to Barakat’s son, a philanthropy advisor with no apparent background in campaign work.
As Jewish Insider previously reported, Amani Barakat chairs the group Al-Awda, which also uses the names Palestinian Right of Return Coalition and Palestinian Assembly for Liberation.
The group greeted Hamas’ Oct. 7, 2023, attacks with a statement sending “their highest salutations to the Palestinian Resistance, the Freedom Fighters and Defenders of the indigenous Palestinian people,” and it has collaborated with numerous radical groups, including the People’s Forum, CODEPINK and Samidoun — the latter of which the Treasury Department has identified as “a sham charity that serves as an international fundraiser for the Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine (PFLP) terrorist organization.”
Amani Barakat’s social media history is consistent with her organization’s extremism. She shared her organization’s Oct. 7 statement on her personal Facebook account, and made multiple celebratory posts on the day of the atrocities, including one in English reading, “When people are occupied, Resistance is justified” accompanied by the hashtags “#longlivetheresistance” and “#feepalestine” [sic].
Another in Arabic translates to “Hail, my people! My people, hail!” A third English language post declares, “This is a fight for freedom.”
Also on Oct. 7, Amani Barakat shared a video of since-killed Hamas political chief Ismail Haniyeh justifying the attack, and a drawing celebrating the assault as a battle between a Palestinian David and Israeli Goliath.
Amani Barakat also has an extensive history of social media posts amplifying or applauding terrorist leaders and activities: she has repeatedly shared videos by a Beirut-based TikTok user named Muhammad Kawtharani, who has served as a Hezbollah spokesman (though is distinct from the group’s commander of the same name); posted PFLP-branded content and celebrated its founders; and shared memes and material supportive of Hamas officials and fighters.
She has also repeatedly defended and applauded Khaled Barakat, the Canadian-based co-founder of Samidoun who was identified by both the U.S. and Canada as part of the leadership of the PFLP, which pioneered skyjacking in the 1970s and participated in the Oct. 7 assault, among other massacres. Amani Barakat and Khaled Barakat have exchanged greetings on Facebook, with Amani Barakat even suggesting they might meet up in the West Bank.
Since the start of the U.S.-Israeli military conflict with Iran, Amani Barakat has openly cheerleaded the regime in Tehran, posting an “I Stand with Iran” image, an image eulogizing assassinated Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei with a Quranic verse and news of a defiant statement from the Iranian foreign minister with emojis illustrating her support.
She has also lauded antisemitic podcaster Tucker Carlson for his “brave, principled journalism,” and signal-boosted antisemitic conspiracy theories claiming “Zionists” are responsible for wildfires in Argentina and naming “Illuminati and other secret Jewish and Zionist societies as the real powers running the world and fueling the ongoing war in Iran.”
The Al-Awda leader, who did not respond to requests for comment for this story, has also shared multiple posts from El-Sayed. Her $7,000 in contributions amounts to a small portion of the total funds the wealthy and sprawling Barakat family has mobilized for the Senate contender — a financial effort that also includes $4,300 from her son, Jamal.
But records suggest that the younger Barakat has received far more from the El-Sayed campaign than he or his mother have given. The disclosures show that El-Sayed has paid at least $40,000 since December for “political consulting” to The Commonwealth Project, a firm formed in late November 2025 in Wyoming.
State incorporation documents show that Jamal Barakat created this firm in conjunction with education technology entrepreneur John R. Hall, with whom he serves as an executive at Bayan Islamic Graduate School, a theological institution with campuses in Los Angeles and Chicago.
There is no record of any other campaign ever hiring the newly formed Commonwealth Project, and Jamal Barakat’s LinkedIn profile shows extensive background in the education and philanthropy sectors — but no experience in politics.
Jamal Barakat and Hall did not respond to emailed questions from Jewish Insider about how they came to work for the El-Sayed campaign. Hall also did not respond to any queries, while Jamal Barakat hastily said “no comment” and hung up when a JI reporter introduced himself.
El-Sayed, who has labeled both the Israeli government and Hamas as equally “evil,” did not respond to questions about his relationship with the Barakat family, or he came to hire their scion’s firm.
This contrasts with how El-Sayed reacted when JI notified him that a donor and self-identified fundraiser for his campaign posted antisemitic sentiments and shared tweets on X including denial of the Holocaust.
User @Niavaran555 described themselves as a fundraiser for El-Sayed and invited Jenin Younes, the national legal director for the Arab Anti-Discrimination Committee, to join a fundraiser for El-Sayed in Washington in the coming weeks or months. Niavaran said separately that they gave the “max” to El-Sayed.
After JI inquired to El-Sayed’s campaign about the Niavaran account, the user made his posts private.
“Abdul’s campaign had no knowledge of this person’s anonymous online account. Abdul condemns any and all antisemitic or racist comments made, no matter who or where they come from,” spokesperson Sophie Pollock told JI, and said that the campaign refunded in full a donation from the apparent owner of the account.
They shared a post that appeared to question whether the Nazis used gas chambers to kill Jews during the Holocaust. “1944 Hitler introducing a ‘gas chamber’…. (Topic forbidden to question/debate)….” the post reads, in reference to Israel’s new death penalty law for Palestinian terrorists.
They reposted an X post saying that “Jewish n***** treating genocide like New Years Eve,” referencing a countdown on an Israeli television news channel for a deadline Trump provided to Iran.
Niavaran also reposted a meme urging now-deceased Iranian Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei to “BUILD THE NUKE RETARD.”
Numerous biographical details shared by Niavaran online point to the account being owned by Sam Zia, a travel consultant based in Washington, D.C. Niavaran said they “ran a speaker series in oxford (OxSpeaks)” and Zia was a co-founder of the group in 2023. Zia is also based in Washington, D.C., based on his LinkedIn profile.
Niavaran also said he wrote his thesis on former Iranian Prime Minister Mohammed Mossadegh; Zia used a picture of Mossadegh as his Instagram profile picture. Zia had donated $2750, to El-Sayed’s campaign as of the most recent FEC filings.
Warren lauded Platner’s economic populist message rather than address his extremist rhetoric
Brian Stukes/Getty Images for Vanderbilt Policy Accelerator
Sen. Elizabeth Warren (D-MA) speaks during the Vanderbilt Policy Accelerator (VPA) Luncheon at Eaton DC on April 22, 2026 in Washington, DC.
Sen. Elizabeth Warren (D-MA) dismissed criticism of Maine Senate candidate Graham Platner’s scandals on Wednesday, after calling him “my kind of man” at his rally in Maine on Saturday.
“You care about character,” CNBC host Sara Eisen said to Warren. “This is a guy that had a chest tattoo with a Nazi symbol — OK, he apologized for it. It’s a guy that reportedly wrote that people concerned about rape should take some responsibility for themselves and not get so effed up that they wind up having sex with someone they don’t mean to. He praised military tactics used by Hamas, reportedly, in comments online when they were murdering Israeli soldiers. So I’m just curious why you think he’s ‘your kind of man’?”
Warren responded, “So, as you rightly point out, he has apologized. He’s out meeting with the people of Maine every single day so they can evaluate not who Graham Platner was but who Graham Platner is today.” She went on to say her comment was in reference to her experience reading an interview of Platner’s where he condemned the lack of consequences for bankers during the 2008 financial crisis.
Eisen said, “OK, well, ‘I dig it,’ next to a video of a bunch of terrorists killing five soldiers?” referring to a Jewish Insider report unearthing Platner’s 2014 Reddit comments. “I don’t know, I mean, you guys want to be the party of inclusivity, right?”
“I want to be the party that stands up for hardworking people,” Warren answered. “I want to be the party that is transformative of an economy that right now is hip deep in corruption … and that’s what Graham Platner wants to do and I’m there to stand with him and to help in that fight.”
Daniel Moraff also recruited Rep. Summer Lee, a leading anti-Israel Democrat, to pursue her political career
Bill Clark/CQ-Roll Call, Inc via Getty Images
Independent Senate candidate Dan Osborn speaks during his campaign stop at the in O'Neill, Neb., on Monday, October 14, 2024.
A former Democratic Socialists of America organizer has been a top advisor to independent Nebraska Senate candidate Dan Osborn and Democratic Maine Senate candidate Graham Platner.
Daniel Moraff was a longtime DSA member, including acting as a local and national DSA organizer and leader in the mid-to-late 2010s, though he said his membership lapsed in 2019 because his local chapter became too focused on internal matters. He argued in a now-deleted 2017 article that the best way for socialists to gain political power and achieve elective office would be by running in Democratic primaries.
He subsequently recruited now-Rep. Summer Lee (D-PA), among the farthest-left and most anti-Israel members of the House, to run for the Pennsylvania Statehouse, and served as her campaign manager.
Moraff reportedly helped recruit Osborn into the Nebraska Senate race in 2024 and has continued to serve as a consultant for Osborn. Campaign disclosures show that Osborn’s wife, Megan Osborn, has received compensation from Moraff’s firm for work on her husband’s current Senate campaign.
Osborn has cultivated an image as a heterodox populist, seeking to appeal to moderate and Republican voters, by adopting center-right views on border security and government spending while maintaining progressive views on abortion rights and unions.
Osborn was also recently endorsed by the anti-Israel group A New Policy.
“Daniel Moraff has advised candidates across the country who seek to give the working class a voice in our politics. The fact those candidates have diverse backgrounds and beliefs is not a story,” an Osborn spokesperson said in a statement to Jewish Insider.
Amid a reshuffle of Platner’s campaign — he shed staff as revelations emerged about his tattoo of a Nazi symbol and extreme prior social media posts — Moraff reportedly served as Platner’s de-facto campaign manager.
Platner’s campaign did not respond to a request for comment, nor did Moraff personally.
In addition to his DSA ties, as a Brown University student in 2012, Moraff was an undergraduate representative on an advisory committee on investment practices, responsible for “dialogue” with Brown Students for Justice in Palestine over its push for Brown to divest from Israeli-linked companies.
The committee, with Moraff as a signatory, said in a letter to Brown’s president that “the documented abuses of Palestinian citizens by the Israeli Defense Force in the Occupied Territories are deeply troubling” and “Israel is indisputably engaged in ongoing systemic abuses of human rights and violations of international law, as documented by the United Nations Human Rights Council and the International Court of Justice.”
The committee said that Brown University may be invested “in firms whose products and services are being used to commit human rights violations in Palestine” and recommended further discussions over divestment.
Platner, in Reddit post on Hamas terrorist attack: ‘From a strictly professional standpoint, this was a damn fine looking and successful raid against a superior opponent’
Sophie Park/Getty Images
Senate candidate from Maine Graham Platner speaks at a town hall at the Leavitt Theater on October 22, 2025 in Ogunquit, Maine.
Maine Senate candidate Graham Platner repeatedly praised the tactics used by Hamas terrorists in comments made about a graphic video of a Hamas raid into Israel in 2014, in which terrorists killed at least five Israeli soldiers.
In archived posts from his now-deleted Reddit profile under the username “P-Hustle,” Platner commented on a video post titled “Helmet Footage from Hamas cross-border raid,” which showed the attack on multiple Israeli soldiers.
The original video, also now deleted but still archived, was posted by a YouTube channel called Sabah on July 29, 2014, with the description, “Secret footage shows the storming of a settlement by the Qassam Brigades and the killing of 10 soldiers.” The description and comments in the Reddit thread appear to match a raid by Hamas’ Al-Qassam Brigades on a military base near Kibbutz Nahal Oz the day prior.
According to a text description of the video and the raid shared online, the video includes footage of the shootings of several Israeli soldiers, at least one of whom is screaming as the terrorists attempt to kidnap him.
“Looks like an all around well executed and successful small unit raid to me,” Platner wrote in 2014 on the Reddit forum r/CombatFootage, a discussion board for footage and photographs of past and current armed conflicts.
Responding to another user who criticized the “execution” of the Israeli soldiers and emphasized that the attack would lead to heavy reprisals in Gaza, Platner said he was not interested in discussing the geopolitical or strategic implications, but suggested Hamas’ tactics and actions were reasonable.
“As for your aversion to ‘execution’, a small unit raid tends to be used to inflict casualties and take prisoners in a short period of time,” Platner wrote. “Pragmatically I have little problem with killing an enemy combatant who you attempt to capture but for whatever reason cannot. From a strictly professional standpoint, this was a damn fine looking and successful raid against a superior opponent, I dig it.”
He acknowledged, in response to another user, that the terrorists’ actions were brutal and that the terrorists should have shot one of the soldiers instead of beating him to death.
Responding to another user who disputed Platner’s characterization of the Hamas attack as a “raid” and said that the attack was “not resistance its just drawing blood to score imaginative points in the war,” Platner suggested the Hamas terrorists were preferable to those who attacked U.S. forces in Iraq.
“It was Iraq, and those guys were in civilian clothing with silenced weapons. This videos shows a unit of men in full uniform assaulting uniformed military personnel of an enemy their organization is currently engaged in military operations with. There is no comparing the two,” Platner wrote. “Generally you try to catch the enemy off guard, and kill them with the least resistance. This looks like a pretty audacious plan that worked, and I’ll certainly give credit where credit is due, no matter who they are fighting for.”
Platner’s campaign did not return a request for comment.
Platner has come under fire by Gov. Janet Mills, who is his main competitor in the Democratic primary, and by Republicans for other past Reddit posts under the “P-Hustle” username which have disparaged a wide range of groups and included various offensive comments.
He also has faced scrutiny for his criticism of Israel and a tattoo on his chest of an apparent Nazi symbol.
The Maine Senate candidate quickly deleted his post, in which he approved of a message by neo-Nazi radio host Stew Peters
Sophie Park/Getty Images
U.S. senatorial candidate from Maine Graham Platner speaks at a town hall at the Leavitt Theater on October 22, 2025 in Ogunquit, Maine.
Graham Platner, a far-left Senate candidate in Maine, amplified a social media post on Thursday from a far-right conspiracy theorist well-known for viciously antisemitic commentary — before quickly deleting the statement.
In a comment to X late Thursday morning, Platner approvingly boosted a remark from Stew Peters, an extremist radio host who has frequently promoted antisemitic tropes and engaged in Holocaust denial, calling a war with Iran “the only thing Republicans and Democrats have both given a standing ovation for.”
“As always, there’s one thing that brings Republican and Democratic politicians together: sending other people’s children to die in stupid wars in the Middle East,” Platner, a 41-year-old Marine veteran turned oyster farmer who has sharply criticized U.S. military engagement abroad, wrote in his own post.
He deleted the post an hour or so after it had been flagged by online observers who noted that he was elevating a problematic figure with a long record of hostile rhetoric toward Jews.
The Anti-Defamation League has described Peters as a “prolific antisemite” who blames “‘the Jews’ for everything he believes is wrong with society,” while the Southern Poverty Law Center has said his radio show has “become a central hub for antisemitic and conspiratorial content.”
He has said Judaism is “satanic” and a “death cult,” promoted blood libels, called for a “final solution” to mass-deport American Jews and questioned the existence of gas chambers that exterminated Jews during the Holocaust, among other conspiratorial assertions.
In a statement to Jewish Insider, a spokesperson for Platner said the post had been published due to an oversight. “We were reposting a C-Span clip of Trump speaking about the potential war with Iran and didn’t realize that the video had been posted by a despicable account,” the spokesperson said. “When we learned who the poster was we immediately deleted the post.”
The social media blunder is a particularly sensitive issue for Platner, who earlier in his campaign faced scrutiny over a Nazi tattoo on his chest, which he had covered up last October. He has insisted he was not aware the tattoo closely mirrored a Totenkopf, a skull-and-crossbones icon used by an infamous Nazi SS unit, even as a former acquaintance told JI that he had years ago specifically identified it as such. He has denied such claims.
“I am not a secret Nazi,” Platner said in a podcast interview last year, while calling himself “a lifelong opponent” of “Nazism and antisemitism and racism in general.”
Despite such baggage, polling has shown Platner holds a commanding lead in the Maine Democratic primary race, where he is facing Gov. Janet Mills to challenge Sen. Susan Collins (R-ME), who is one of the most vulnerable Republican incumbents up for reelection in the midterms.
In a recent conversation at a fundraising event, the Maine Senate candidate claimed the Israeli government funded Hamas and also revealed he is related to Israeli author and analyst Seth Frantzman
Sophie Park/Getty Images
U.S. senatorial candidate from Maine Graham Platner speaks at a town hall at the Leavitt Theater on October 22, 2025 in Ogunquit, Maine.
Like many progressives now running for Congress, Graham Platner, a Democratic Senate candidate in Maine, has made opposition to Israel a central part of his messaging.
He frequently accuses Israel of genocide in Gaza, advocates for blocking U.S. aid to Israel and is an outspoken critic of AIPAC. During a campaign event last month, Platner, a 41-year-old former Marine who runs an oyster farm, also said he believes that Israel is a terrorist state.
But more so than many candidates, the political newcomer seems particularly invested in engaging on Middle East policy, even if his views have drawn scrutiny, according to audio of a recent private discussion in which he debated about Israel with some attendees at a fundraising event in Maine for nearly 20 minutes.
Speaking at the August fundraiser, Platner defended his stances on Israel and shared previously undisclosed details about his personal ties to the region, according to the audio, recently shared with Jewish Insider.
Despite his hostile criticism of Israel, Platner said he believed that the country “has the same right to exist that every nation has to exist,” though he did not confirm whether he recognizes Israel’s right to exist as a Jewish state.
While he said he agreed that Hamas is a terrorist organization, Platner claimed that Netanyahu had “publicly stated that” Israel was “funding Hamas to make sure that there was going to be no non-radical leadership within Gaza in order to keep a Palestinian state from happening.”
While members of Netanyahu’s coalition have made this argument — Finance Minister Bezalel Smotrich referred to the terrorist organization as “an asset” as it serves as an obstacle to Palestinian statehood — the prime minister has never personally made such a claim. New York Times reporting from shortly after the Oct. 7 attacks alleged that the Israeli prime minister had allowed the Qatari government to send money into the Gaza Strip for several years in order to “maintain peace in Gaza.” Netanyahu called allegations that he was empowering Hamas “ridiculous.”
“It is difficult for me to lay the onus of everything only at the feet of the Palestinians,” he explained, “and not include the Netanyahu government.”
Platner also quibbled with an attendee who said that 1,200 Israeli civilians had been killed during the attacks, noting that a percentage of those who had died on Oct. 7 were soldiers in the Israeli military.
“It wasn’t 1,200 civilians. It was 600 military members,” Platner countered, using a number that far exceeded the approximately 300 soldiers who were killed in the attacks.
“Who were taken sleeping, unarmed, out of their beds, I’ve met families,” the attendee responded, likely referring to the tatzpitaniot, unarmed female observer soldiers, and others, who were famously killed and kidnapped in their pajamas.
“When you are wearing a uniform and carrying a gun in the service of a cause, it is difficult for me to feel that you can be called a civilian,” said Platner, who fought in Iraq and Afghanistan. “There is a one-way street on this,” he continued, “that I find to be disingenuous.”
The private comments suggest that Platner is not merely paying lip service to such issues on the trail, as he runs in a competitive primary against Maine Gov. Janet Mills for the Democratic nomination to unseat Sen. Susan Collins (R-ME).
Platner’s campaign did not respond to a request for comment.
Platner’s views on Israel and Gaza have received limited attention in recent weeks as his campaign has weathered controversy over his past incendiary Reddit posts and faced questions over when he first became aware that a skull tattoo on his chest he had for nearly 20 years resembled a Nazi symbol known as a Totenkopf.
Platner, who covered the tattoo this month, has insisted he did not know what the skull signified until recently, though reporting from JI and CNN has contradicted that claim.
He has also argued that members of his family are Jewish and never objected to the skull tattoo when he took his shirt off around them. “Eighteen years,” he told The Atlantic recently. “It’s never come up.”
In the conversation about Israel at the fundraiser, which took place before controversy ensnared his campaign, Platner noted his stepbrother is Seth Frantzman, an Israeli author, journalist and security analyst who has long worked for The Jerusalem Post and lives in Jerusalem, saying they are “very close,” according to the audio.
Frantzman, who has previously written admiringly about Platner without mention of their familial ties, did not respond to an email seeking comment.
Platner also said that he had “multiple friends in B’Tselem,” the left-wing Israeli human rights group that has described Israel as an apartheid regime and accused Israel of committing genocide in Gaza — as he argued that Israel is not fully a democracy.
He cited his friends from B’Tselem “who have showed me videos, who have introduced me to former soldiers, who have introduced me to Palestinians, who have laid out a very clear and, frankly, well-sourced case that Palestinians living within the borders of the occupied territories do not live in a democracy, that they do not have equal rights, that they do not have equal access to areas.”
He said that, “as an American taxpayer,” he was uncomfortable with sending continued U.S. aid to support Israel’s military.
But even as he has been deployed to the Middle East, Platner confirmed that he had never visited Israel.
Every one of the ads the Maine Democratic Senate candidate is running on Facebook and Instagram states his opposition to AIPAC, and several accuse Israel of genocide
Graham Platner for Senate
Graham Platner
Democratic Maine Senate candidate Graham Platner is putting anti-AIPAC and anti-Israel messaging front-and-center in fundraising appeals he’s circulating on social media.
Platner is currently running a series of Facebook and Instagram advertisements soliciting donations for his campaign that highlight his opposition to AIPAC and accuse Israel of committing genocide. The pitches indicate that Platner is treating the issue as central to rallying support for his campaign.
“My opponent has already been endorsed by AIPAC — an endorsement I will never get. Because what is happening right now in Gaza is a genocide,” Platner says in one direct-to-camera video ad focused specifically on his opposition to AIPAC. “I need your help because we refuse to take money from AIPAC, and we refuse to take money from the billionaires who support it.”
Every one of the eight active ads that Platner is running on Facebook and Instagram, according to Meta’s political advertising library tool, includes a repudiation of AIPAC, and around half accuse Israel of genocide. In most of Platner’s other ads, that language comes alongside comments on a range of other issues.
Some of the written advertisements being circulated by Platner’s campaign on Facebook and Instagram include language such as “there is a genocide happening in Palestine,” “why are we funding Netanyau’s genocide in Palestine?” and “I won’t kowtow to AIPAC or billionaires.”
Platner’s campaign did not respond to a request for comment.
Platner, in the days since launching his campaign, has been repeatedly and vocally critical of Israel and of AIPAC, including calling the group “weird.”
Platner’s potential general election opponent, Sen. Susan Collins (R-ME) has been a vocal supporter of Israel in the Senate, as chair of the Senate Appropriations Committee. It’s not clear yet how Platner’s stance on Israel will play in the election, but Collins is already attacking him for his views.
The candidate’s advocacy on the Israeli-Palestinian conflict appears to date back to his high school days — a page from his yearbook that Platner’s campaign shared on X shows him holding a sign that appears to read “Free Kosovo Chechnya Kashmir Palestine Kurdistan Tibet.”
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