Overview
- During a Newsmax interview that aired Wednesday, Republican gubernatorial nominee Bruce Blakeman said Democratic congressional nominee Brad Lander “would be a camp guard in the concentration camp if he could,” a comment that immediately spread online.
- Within a day Blakeman partially softened the language, saying “maybe camp guard was too strong” while repeating his criticism of Lander’s positions on Israel and calling him a “collaborator.”
- Prominent Democrats and Jewish organizations condemned the comparison as an inappropriate invocation of the Holocaust, with Rep. Jerry Nadler and Gov. Kathy Hochul calling for accountability and Jewish groups calling the remark corrosive.
- Lander rejected the attack, defended his Jewish credentials and human-rights record, and urged voters to reject Blakeman’s rhetoric in November while also asking for an apology.
- The episode highlights a widening fault line over Israel and Palestine among Jewish voters and within New York politics, with the state GOP defending Blakeman and national attention increasing the stakes for the November governor’s race.