A pro-Israel political action committee is accusing the Democratic Socialists of America and its liberal Queens candidates of destroying the Democratic Party — and America — in a scathing six-figure ad campaign.
The first in a series of ads from the Committee for Sensible Government targets Democratic primary candidates running for state legislature, including veteran incumbent Ron Kim.
“DSA stands for disarming the police, defunding the police, and abolishing the police,” a narrator declares in the 30-second spot, over footage of protests.
“New York City has become the immigration epicenter of America, and now violent clashes and unrest are occurring on college campuses across the country,” the narrator adds, as the video shows vandals smashing windows and protesters fighting with police and university security.
The narrator claims that the DSA is trying to take over the party of “FDR and JFK.”
“Now that we know what they stand for, the only question remaining is: will you take a stand?” the ad reads.
group – Donors include the New York Association of Realtors and the Rent Stabilization Association, which represents landlords of rent-regulated apartments. – They are targeting candidates supported by the DSA and other left-leaning candidates.
The group's president, Michael Nussbaum, who also serves as president of the Queens Jewish Community Council, said support for Israel is a “red line” for him.
“DSA is against Israel. The far left is just as dangerous as the far right,” Nussbaum said.
But political action committees are accusing the candidates of being soft on crime.
Rep. Kim, who has represented the Flushing-Bayside area in the 40th Congressional District since 2012 and is seeking his seventh term, faces a formidable challenge from Yi-Andy Chen in the June 25 Democratic primary.
Nussbaum's group, which supports Chen, has slammed Kim for supporting controversial cashless bail laws and pushing for the decriminalization of prostitution.
Kim's camp strongly denounced the PAC as despicable.
“Michael Nussbaum's group has a history of supporting criminals to run for office, including former City Councilman Dennis Gallagher who was indicted on rape charges and a former congressional candidate who was jailed on assault charges, and they are spreading lies in an attempt to mislead voters,” a Kim campaign spokesperson told The Washington Post.
“Nussbaum and those around her have been waging a strange, almost obsessive, personal battle against Rep. Kim for years. Why would they do this, asks Michael Nussbaum, the newspaper's publisher? [The Queens Daily Eagle]It would openly engage in political aggression of the worst kind.
The spokesman also called Kim's primary opponent “George Santos Version 2.0,” a reference to the erstwhile Republican liar who was expelled from Congress after a series of controversies.
Nussbaum's PAC is also exerting influence in two other Queens congressional primaries. – In the 35th Assembly District, they supported Larinda Hooks over former City Councilman Hiram Monserrate, and in the 37th District, they supported Johana Carmona over DSA-backed Claire Valdez and incumbent City Councilman Juan Ardila, who is embattled by sexual assault allegations.
He said DSA has gained a foothold in western Queens with the election of Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, State Assemblyman Zoran Mamdani, State Assemblyman Jessica Rojas Gonzalez and City Councilman Tiffany Cabán.
But a spokesman for Rep. Jessica Gonzalez Rojas said she is not a DSA-endorsed elected official and is not anti-Israel.
“She is anti-war and pro-ceedfire,” the spokesperson said.
