A Democratic congressional candidate in New York denied Israel is a "Jewish democracy." Antonio Delgado, who is running against Rep. John Faso (R., N.Y.) in New York's 19th Congressional District, made the comment during debate on Monday.
"Being pro-Israel and being pro-peace is critical, but I'm also pro-democracy, and as currently constructed, Israel is not a Jewish democracy. Those settlements make it so that it can't be," Delgado said.
Watch: Congressman @JohnFasoNy fires back after his Democratic opponent @DelgadoforNY19 claims at debate that 'Israel is not a Jewish democracy." #NY19 pic.twitter.com/sdsdVxE3Af
— Reagan Battalion (@ReaganBattalion) October 23, 2018
Faso was surprised by Delgado's remarks.
"Israel is not a democracy? Israel is a strong democracy. It is a vibrant democracy. It has got a vibrant free enterprise system. It has got a vibrant agricultural system and culture. Israel is a democracy," Faso said. "They are our main democratic ally in that region and in fact, moving the embassy to Jerusalem was the right decision."
Prior to being a congressional candidate, Delgado was a rapper and six-figure lawyer at Akin Gump, a top-50 law firm that was the largest lobbying firm by revenue in the United States in 2017.
Delgado used to rap about white supremacy and masturbation.
"Dead presidents can't represent me, not when most of them believe in white supremacy, like spittin' on my ancestry," he rapped.
"Keep pace with my imagination, better yet my infatuation with self-love, i.e., masturbation," went the lyrics to another rap.
Earlier this month, liberal activists from New York City were bused up to the 19th District to volunteer for Delgado's campaign, but before they arrived, a female organizer told them not to say where they were from because the campaign is concerned about the optics of receiving outside support.
Actors Paul Rudd and Alec Baldwin headlined a New York City fundraiser for Delgado a couple weeks ago.