A progressive Democratic organization was slammed for posting a tweet mocking the names of two New York Jewish politicians, with Jewish groups and a Rep. from the state accusing them of antisemitism.
In response to the primary wins of House candidate Dan Goldman and state Assemblyman Jeffrey Dinowitz, No IDC NY tweeted on Saturday: “The jerk buying a House seat with inherited money is ‘Goldman’ … the IDC-adjacent Assembly member is ‘DINOwitz.’ Who came up with these names, Dickens?”
After the tweet led to a barrage of criticism, the group deleted it.
The IDC mentioned in the tweet was a reference to the “Independent Democratic Conference,” a group of Democratic state senators that in the past had allied themselves with senate Republicans to form a majority. The group dissolved in 2018.
An outraged Dinowitz replied to the tweet, accusing No IDC NY of normalizing antisemitism.
“I’ve been the target of antisemitic attacks from both the far right and the far left,” he said. “This tweet from an extremist, anonymous account selectively singles out two Jewish politicians and is disgusting. It’s a classic display of antisemitism and should be condemned.”
He commented on Sunday that “antisemitism these days is becoming acceptable.”
Bronx Rep. Ritchie Torres also blasted the group for spreading antisemitism.
“A tweet dripping with Antisemitism,” Torres tweeted. “The normalization of Antisemitism is a sign of how poisonous our politics has become.”
After taking down the tweet, No IDC NY responded to Torres’s post.
“The steering committee of No IDC NY has suspended the social media account manager who sent this tweet,” they wrote.
But the StopAntisemitism advocacy organization called for the group to do more than suspend the staffer.
“Fired. They need to be fired. Not suspended. You must never tolerate antisemitism,” they wrote in response.
No IDC NY later apologized, tweeting: “We're sorry – no antisemitism was intended and we took this down when folks expressed concerns it could be taken the wrong way.”