{"id":1148,"date":"2026-05-22T10:41:04","date_gmt":"2026-05-22T10:41:04","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/movinginsiderusa.com\/?p=1148"},"modified":"2026-05-22T10:41:04","modified_gmt":"2026-05-22T10:41:04","slug":"call-to-imprison-american-zionists-and-shadowy-spending-roil-texas-runoff","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/movinginsiderusa.com\/?p=1148","title":{"rendered":"Call to imprison \u2018American Zionists\u2019 and shadowy spending roil Texas runoff"},"content":{"rendered":"

Incendiary comments by Maureen Galindo, a Democratic House candidate in Texas, prompted condemnation from Democrats, who accused the GOP of propping her up.<\/strong><\/p>

Read more Poll shows voter confidence in economy plummeting to a nearly 4-year low<\/a><\/p>\n

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\"\"<\/figure>\n\n
Maureen Galindo, left, and Johnny Garcia, Democratic candidates for Texas\u2019s 35th Congressional District, participate in a forum this month in San Antonio. (San Antonio Express-News\/Hearst Newspapers\/Getty Images)<\/figcaption>\n<\/figure>\n

A Democratic House candidate in Texas who said she wanted to turn a local immigrant detention center into a facility to imprison and castrate \u201cAmerican Zionists\u201d has Democrats scrambling to distance the party from her and accusing Republicans of behind-the-scenes interference in the race.<\/p>\n

The contest is happening in a congressional district that Texas lawmakers redrew last year to favor Republicans but that Democrats think can still be won as President Donald Trump\u2019s approval rating plunges. The candidate, Maureen Galindo, finished first among four in the March Democratic primary and is competing in Tuesday\u2019s runoff.<\/p>\n

Now, Democrats are trying to ostracize her, and Republicans are trying to cast her as a posterchild for rising antisemitism on the left.<\/p>\n

In a post on X lambasting the remarks as \u201cdespicable,\u201d Sen. Rick Scott (R-Florida) questioned whether Democrats would respond, or \u201care they content to let their entire party turn into a hotbed of antisemitism?\u201d he wrote.<\/p>\n

Democratic leaders did condemn her forcefully \u2014 and sought to flip the outrage against the right. They are accusing Republicans of using a shadowy political action committee to boost Galindo\u2019s chances of advancing to the general election to give the GOP a weak opponent.<\/p>\n

The Lead Left PAC has spent more than $900,000 since early May to support Galindo, according to its disclosures, but has yet to reveal donors. Metadata on its website included links to a Republican campaign-donation processor, but those references were removed after Punchbowl News<\/a> first reported it. The PAC, which has also poured money into Democratic primaries in Nebraska and Pennsylvania, is facing a legal challenge over how it has reported its spending.<\/p>\n

\u201cTo embrace and uplift a fringe candidate with antisemitic \u2014 and extremely dangerous \u2014 rhetoric and views in order to win an election is beyond the pale,\u201d House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries (D-New York) said in a statement with Rep. Suzan DelBene (D-Washington), who leads the House Democrats\u2019 campaign operation.<\/p>\n

Lead Left PAC did not respond to requests for comment to an email address listed on its filings. The campaign organization for House Republicans declined to comment when asked whether it was involved with the group.<\/p>\n

\u201cThey\u2019re hypocrites,\u201d Brian Romick, president of the Democratic Majority for Israel PAC \u2014 which is supporting Galindo\u2019s opponent, Johnny Garcia \u2014 said of Republicans. \u201cPlain and simple.\u201d<\/p>\n

Democrats have also <\/b>elevated far-right candidates they saw as easier to beat. In 2022, a Washington Post analysis<\/a> found that Democrats had spent $19 million across primaries in eight states to amplify candidates who questioned the legitimacy of the 2020 election results.<\/p>\n

Galindo said she had \u201czero idea about the PAC.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cI\u2019m just continuing my grassroots effort,\u201d she wrote in an email. She did not respond to a request for an interview.<\/p>\n

In an Instagram post on Thursday, she said that she \u201cnever said I want Jews in internment camps\u201d but did want to imprison \u201cbillionaire American Zionists\u201d for \u201cfunding genocidal prison systems.\u201d<\/p>\n

Galindo, a sex therapist and activist who received 29 percent of the vote in the March primary, is facing off against Garcia, a former sheriff\u2019s deputy who is currently the spokesperson for the Bexar County Sheriff\u2019s Office. He received 27 percent of the vote.<\/p>

Read more Trump vows to \u2018work very hard\u2019 to enact permanent daylight saving time<\/a><\/p>\n

For months, Galindo has positioned herself as an antiestablishment candidate who speaks openly about thorny topics, including Israel\u2019s war in Gaza. She has also pledged to abolish U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement.<\/p>\n

This fiery brand probably made Galindo appealing to voters, said John Lira, who lost to her in the primary and endorsed her in the runoff.<\/p>\n

\u201cI was following her on Instagram before I even knew it was her who had joined our race for Texas 35 just because of some of the content she was producing,\u201d Lira said. \u201cShe was calling out people.\u201d<\/p>\n

At the time, Lira said he wasn\u2019t aware of any antisemitic comments from her, though Israel and its war in Gaza were a sticking point in the race.<\/p>\n

Galindo has repeatedly described the war as a \u201cgenocide\u201d and criticized Garcia for taking money from pro-Israel groups. Her rhetoric intensely criticized as antisemitic did not come to light until months after the primary, and Lira has since withdrawn his endorsement.<\/p>\n

On May 13, Galindo wrote on Instagram that if elected to Congress, she would write a bill to declare that Zionism is antisemitic, and she would convert an ICE detention <\/b>center located in her district into a prison with a \u201ccastration processing center\u201d for \u201cAmerican Zionists\u201d and former ICE officers. She has said she is not antisemitic.<\/p>\n

The next day, Galindo told a local radio station that Garcia and others supported by pro-Israel groups should be \u201ctried for treason.\u201d<\/p>\n

Israel and antisemitism have been among the thorniest issues in the midterms. Rep. Thomas Massie (R-Kentucky) lost<\/a> to a primary challenger this week after pro-Israel groups spent millions to unseat him. He and his allies have sharply criticized their influence since.<\/p>\n

Galindo\u2019s comments were notable because of how extreme they were coming from a serious candidate in a somewhat competitive area that Trump won by 10 points in 2024.<\/p>\n

Rep. Elise Stefanik (R-New York) called Galindo\u2019s remarks a \u201cheinous antisemitic statement.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cEvery elected Democrat needs to publicly condemn this immediately,\u201d she said.<\/p>\n

Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (D-New York) described the comments as \u201cbigoted garbage and antisemitism,\u201d and called for voters to support Garcia, who said Republicans had \u201cno shame\u201d about supporting Galindo\u2019s \u201cantisemitic conspiracy theories.\u201d<\/p>\n

James Talarico, the Democratic nominee for the U.S. Senate race in Texas, also endorsed Garcia and said he would not campaign with Galindo if she won. The Texas Democratic Party and the chairs of the parties in the 35th Congressional District condemned Galindo\u2019s remarks.<\/p>\n

Republicans are relishing the Texas race\u2019s frenzy.<\/p>\n

Christian Martinez, spokesperson for the National Republican Congressional Committee to elect House Republicans, said Galindo and Garcia were \u201ctearing each other apart in a full-blown primary civil war, turning their own races into a circular firing squad while Republicans stay focused on the issues Texans care about and build the coalition that\u2019s going to win in November.\u201d<\/p>

Read more George Russell aims to recapture F1 momentum in Canada and stop Antonelli\u2019s streak<\/a><\/p>\n

Todd Wallack contributed to this report.<\/i><\/p>","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Incendiary comments by a House candidate in Texas prompted condemnation from her fellow Democrats, who accused Republicans of propping her up.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":1146,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-1148","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-interesting"],"yoast_head":"\nCall to imprison \u2018American Zionists\u2019 and shadowy spending roil Texas runoff - Moving Insider USA<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/movinginsiderusa.com\/?p=1148\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Call to imprison \u2018American Zionists\u2019 and shadowy spending roil Texas runoff - 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