Blakeman Softens Camp Guard Remark on Lander to ‘Collaborator’ While Lander Pledged Palestinian Rights Stance

New York Republican gubernatorial nominee Bruce Blakeman said Thursday that his comparison of Democratic congressional candidate Brad Lander to a concentration camp guard was too strong. Blakeman told the Washington Examiner that Lander instead acted as a collaborator who turned his back on the Jewish community. Blakeman made the original remarks in a Newsmax interview on Wednesday.

He called Lander a disgrace who is anti-American and antisemitic, adding that Lander would serve as a camp guard if given the chance. Blakeman, who is Jewish, secured the Republican nomination for governor on Tuesday. Lander, also Jewish, won the Democratic nomination for New York’s 10th Congressional District this week after ousting incumbent Rep.

Dan Goldman. Rep. Jerry Nadler condemned the comments in a statement to Semafor. Nadler said invoking the Holocaust to smear a fellow Jewish man constituted a grotesque desecration of the memory of six million Jews and showed why Blakeman must never become governor.

Lander, who calls himself a liberal Zionist, pledged during the primary never to accept money from the American Israel Public Affairs Committee. In an election-night speech he said he would stand up for Palestinian human rights in Congress while standing firmly against bigotry aimed at Jews. The Washington Examiner has reached out to Lander for comment.