North Carolina Capitol building
North Carolina Capitol buildingiStock

A North Carolina Democratic progressive caucus leader advised against allowing the formation of a Jewish caucus for the Democratic Party in the state on the grounds that such a caucus would "end" the party and that the Jews "control everything."

Ryan Jenkins made the comments to WFAE on Friday after North Carolina Democrats voted against recognizing the North Carolina Democratic Jewish Caucus as an affiliate organization.

“If the Democratic Party caves to it, that’s the end of the Democratic Party. We’re not Democrats, we’re the Jewish Caucus. We’re a Zionist group. Because they control everything. (If we approve the caucus) We’re telling them very clearly they are allowed to threaten and bully us and they will get their way every single time and that our rules don’t apply,” Jenkins said.

Jenkins also accused the Jewish Caucus officials of "whining" and "playing the victim" following the vote.

“What you are seeing is basically a very small group of rich white people who have never been held accountable for anything, who have never faced consequences for anything, throwing a temper tantrum because they are facing consequences for once,” he said.

After his remarks were condemned as antisemitic, Jenkins apologized to"anyone who misinterpreted (his comments) as playing to antisemitic tropes about secret cabals and other racist nonsense.”

“Seeing it in print, I realize that I chose my words poorly and should have been more exact,” he said.

State party spokesman Tommy Mattocks said that "Ryan Jenkins doesn’t speak for the party nor does his statement reflect an accurate depiction of what occurred.”

Mattocks also stated that the state party remains committed to being a "big tent" and that the party remains "committed to helping the Jewish Caucus achieve recognition under the NCDP."