Overview
- Rep.-elect Brad Lander has appointed Jesse Myerson as his communications director, a role that will cover press relations, speechwriting and digital strategy for Lander’s incoming office.
- Reporting identifies Myerson as a publicly self‑identified communist whose past work includes a 2013 Jacobin piece calling to eliminate national borders, Salon pieces where he described himself as a communist, a 2023 social‑media post saying “There is no such thing as Israel,” and a 2025 Bluesky post defending the slogan “globalize the intifada.”
- Lander defended the hire to reporters by calling Myerson “a proud Jewish New Yorker” and saying he has confidence in Myerson to convey Lander’s liberal Zionist positions while tolerating differing staff views.
- The appointment follows an earlier transition controversy in which Lander’s campaign cut ties with a paid consultant over conspiratorial and pro‑Hamas content, and it comes as Lander prepares to represent a strongly progressive New York City district.
- The hire is likely to keep drawing scrutiny from constituents and Jewish organizations, raise questions about internal vetting and messaging, and prompt attention to how Lander’s office balances staff views with the congressman‑elect’s public positions.