Jewish Dems Call on Republican Jewish Coalition to Disavow Rep. Dana Rohrabacher

WASHINGTON, DC – Yesterday, it was reported that Rep. Dana Rohrabacher (CA-48) has endorsed Gracey Larrea-Van Der Mark for a local school board seat in Huntington Beach, California despite her ties with the alt-right and history of making racist and anti-Semitic comments. This comes on top of reports last week that Rep. Rohrabacher welcomed Charles Johnson, a Holocaust denier, into a meeting on Capitol Hill, and that Johnson had since given the maximum donation to Rep. Rohrabacher’s re-election campaign. In response to these developments, Halie Soifer, Executive Director of the Jewish Democratic Council of America (JDCA), released the following statement: “This is not the first time that Rep. Rohrabacher has aligned himself with those who deny the Holocaust, perpetuate racism and anti-Semitism, or align with the alt-right. These associations, combined with Rep. Rohrabacher’s deeply troubling ties with the Russian government, compel us to call on the Republican Jewish Coalition (RJC) to repudiate Rep. Rohrabacher’s candidacy for Congress. Furthermore, we call on the RJC to endorse Rep. Rohrabacher’s opponent, Harley Rouda, who we believe will represent Jewish and Democratic values in Congress. As JDCA has previously stated, the only way to ensure that the numerous neo-Nazis, white supremacists, and Holocaust deniers – as well as those who sympathize with them – are not elected to Congress is to endorse and support their opponents. During these troubling times, all of us in the Jewish community must put partisan labels aside and confront those who perpetuate hatred and divisiveness in our country.”