Democratic Staffers Mocked Jerrold Nadler’s Weight in Leaked Emails

Image by Claudio Papapietro

By Nathan Guttman August 26, 2016

During the Iran nuclear deal debate, Rep. Jerry Nadler proved to be a valuable asset for the Obama administration. The Jewish New York Jewish congressman, after lengthy deliberations, decided to back the deal. It was more than just another vote. As representative of the the most Jewish congressional district in America and a longtime supporter of Israel, has decision carried weight and was highly appreciated by the White House.

But while President Obama expressed his respect to Nadler, some DNC staffers did the opposite.

Buried in the Wikileaks email dump of leaked DNC emails, which were published on the eve of the Democratic convention, is an exchange in which party staffers seem to be making fun of Nadler’s struggles with his weight.

At issue was a discussion over the invitation of Nadler to attend a Democratic National Committee fundraiser with President Obama. Attending events alongside the president is considered valuable and can be translated into hard political currency when battling primary and re-election races, not to mention the campaign donations that follow.

“Homeboy is NOT little,” wrote Zach Allen of the DNC to Jordan Kaplan, the party’s national finance director, presumably alluding to Nadler’s physique.

“I thought he got his tummy tucked” Kaplan responded on May 18 in an exchange first reported this week by the [New York Post].(http://nypost.com/2016/08/24/dnc-staffers-make-fun-of-jerry-nadlers-weight-in-leaked-emails/)

“He did, but like Christie it all came back,” Allen replied, referring to New Jersey governor Chris Christie. “He was petitioning on my corner the other day and I thanked him for supporting the Iran deal and he bear hugged me. I kinda love him.”

“That could be your wedding present from him,” Kaplan concluded.

According to the Post, Nadler underwent stomach surgery in 2002 and has since maintained his lower weight.

Regardless of the mocking exchange between the Democratic staffers, Nadler did go on to participate in the June 8 and where he received a shoutout from Obama who called on guests to “show some appreciation to Jerry Nadler.”

Nadler won his primary race handedly.

Kaplan was among the DNC staff members who stepped down following the email leak.

Contact Nathan Guttman at guttman@forward.com or on Twitter @nathanguttman

Nathan Guttman, staff writer, was the Forward’s Washington bureau chief. He joined the staff in 2006 after serving for five years as Washington correspondent for the Israeli dailies Haaretz and The Jerusalem Post. In Israel, he was the features editor for Ha’aretz and chief editor of Channel 1 TV evening news. He was born in Canada and grew up in Israel. He is a graduate of the Hebrew University of Jerusalem.

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