'Blatant antisemitism': State lawmaker faces resignation calls after interview surfaces

A Democratic state lawmaker in Connecticut is facing bipartisan calls to resign over a primary campaign interview broadly condemned as antisemitic, according to the Stamford Advocate.

During a July 28 Spanish-language interview with the Hispanic International Show about her primary challenger, Jonathan Jacobson, Anabel Figueroa, a one-term lawmaker who was seated in a special election last year as the first Latina in the Connecticut House of Representatives, went off the rails and appeared to attack Jacobson's Jewish identity.

“The Hispanic vote is going to determine on Aug. 13 who will win to represent or who will continue to represent you,” said Figueroa. “We cannot permit a person who is of Jewish origin, of Jewish origin, to represent our community. It’s impossible.”

The interview went largely unnoticed by the general public for weeks, until Stamford Democratic City Committee District 4 Rep. Eva Padilla — a key Figueroa supporter — attacked Jacobson on Facebook as an "Israeli lawyer," which Figueroa herself condemned as "unacceptable" at "a time when antisemitism is on the rise both nationally and locally." Shortly after Figueroa's remarks, just as the polls were opening in the primary, an email was sent to The Advocate alerting them to Figueroa's July interview.

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In response, the Democratic committee put out a statement calling Figueroa's remarks "abhorrent" and saying, “The sentiments expressed by Representative Figueroa in that video contradict the statement she issued (Monday) in response to the antisemitic Facebook post shared by a DCC member, who is also one of her supporters. This shameful behavior not only demonstrates a lack of integrity and character but makes Anabel Figueroa unfit to serve in office, and we call on her to resign immediately as a member of the Stamford Democratic City Committee.”

The local Republican Party put out a similar statement, saying, "This blatant antisemitism has no place in our community or politics."

Figueroa has tried to do damage control as voters head to the polls, issuing an apology.

“I am deeply sorry to those in the Stamford and Jewish communities that I have offended," she said. "I have multiple Jewish people working on my campaign, and antisemitism has no place in Stamford — again, I apologize. My message is that we need leaders who represent our districts. There is almost no Latino representation in Hartford, and I am currently the only Latina State Representative in Southern Connecticut ... This has nothing to do with religion, and as a bilingual speaker, I misspoke when describing my opponent's background.”

All of this is occurring amid a backdrop of rising tension over antisemitism in the U.S., from both liberal and conservative commentators — exemplified by former President Donald Trump's recent claim that Jews who vote for Democrats "should have their head examined."