New York City mayor and longshot presidential candidate Bill de Blasio (D) on Tuesday denied the left’s role in the rise of antisemitism, claiming that form of bigotry is strictly a “right-wing movement.”
“I think the ideological movement that is anti-Semitic is the right-wing movement,” de Blasio replied when pressed on the explosion in the number of hate crimes in the Big Apple, the New York Post reports.
De Blasio dismissed that the far-left anti-Israel “boycott, divestment, sanctions” (BDS) movement has contributed to rising antisemitism, contending, “I want to be very, very clear, the violent threat, the threat that is ideological is very much from the right.”
According to New York City Police Department data, hate crimes are up 64 percent since 2018. De Blasio’s office acknowledged Tuesday that 60 percent of such crimes were motivated by antisemitism.
Despite the mayor’s instance of blaming the right as perpetrators of antisemitism, some city council members refused to go along the smear.
“I have not seen any white supremacists coming in here committing these hate crimes,” said Brooklyn Councilman Chaim Deutsch (D).
Councilman Joseph Borrelli (R) also criticized de Blasio’s remarks, calling them nonsensical “unless you count central Brooklyn as the home of a vast right-wing conspiracy.”
“Bill de Blasio regularly says stupid things, but this is literally the stupidest effing thing he’s ever said,” Borelli added.