California Congressman Endorses Anti-Semitic Activist For School Board Seat
A Republican member of Congress endorsed this week an alt-right activist known for spreading anti-Semitism, Mother Jones reported Thursday.
California Congressman Dana Rohrabacher, who was recently condemned for attending a fundraiser with a Holocaust denier, posted a photo on Instagram of him shaking hands with Gracey Larrea-Van Der Mark, a candidate for a school board seat in Huntington Beach, California. In the caption, Rohrabacher called her a “patriot.”
Larrea-Van Der Mark participated in an alt-right protest in 2017 against a workshop on white privilege, the OC Weekly reported. She left a comment on one of the event’s YouTube videos, describing it as being run by “elderly Jewish people” who told the “colored people” what to do. The story also brought to light one of her YouTube Channel playlists, called “Holocaust Hoax?,” which includes about six anti-Semitic videos.
She was subsequently removed from two school district commissions, a move approved by the Anti-Defamation League. “These words and actions call into question her ability to serve as an appointed leader in the Huntington Beach community,” the organization said in a statement.
Rohrabacher’s Democratic challenger, Harley Rouda, put out a statement regarding the endorsement, according to Jewish Insider.
Rouda wrote: “Dana’s embrace of a school board candidate who professes bigoted ideas, who associates with white supremacists and anti-Semites, means Dana is embracing hate.”
Alyssa Fisher is a news writer at the Forward. Email her at [email protected], or follow her on Twitter at @alyssalfisher
I hope you appreciated this article. Before you go, I’d like to ask you to please support the Forward’s award-winning journalism this Passover.
In this age of misinformation, our work is needed like never before. We report on the news that matters most to American Jews, driven by truth, not ideology.
At a time when newsrooms are closing or cutting back, the Forward has removed its paywall. That means for the first time in our 126-year history, Forward journalism is free to everyone, everywhere. With an ongoing war, rising antisemitism, and a flood of disinformation that may affect the upcoming election, we believe that free and open access to Jewish journalism is imperative.
Readers like you make it all possible. Right now, we’re in the middle of our Passover Pledge Drive and we still need 300 people to step up and make a gift to sustain our trustworthy, independent journalism.
Make a gift of any size and become a Forward member today. You’ll support our mission to tell the American Jewish story fully and fairly.
— Rachel Fishman Feddersen, Publisher and CEO
Join our mission to tell the Jewish story fully and fairly.
Only 300 more gifts needed by April 30