As Representative Daniel Goldman of New York runs for a third term this year, he would no doubt prefer that voters associate him with his work as lead counsel in the first impeachment case against Donald J. Trump, or his efforts to compel ICE to allow members of Congress to inspect immigration holding cells.
But with Mr. Goldman facing a Democratic primary challenge from Brad Lander, the former city comptroller, the congressman’s staunch support of Israel and the strong support he receives from AIPAC, the pro-Israel lobbying organization, may cost him votes in his progressive Democratic district, which includes parts of Manhattan and Brooklyn.
Mr. Goldman has argued that his stance on Israel is nuanced and consistent with progressive values. But some opponents hope to undermine that claim by pointing to his wife’s social media activity.
Corinne Levy Goldman, who serves as her husband’s campaign treasurer, either liked or recirculated a series of social media posts — several from right-wing accounts — that used insensitive or hateful language directed at Palestinians and groups or people who supported them or criticized Israel.
Most of the activity came in the days and weeks following the Hamas attack on Oct. 7, 2023, when the Goldman family was in Israel and forced to take shelter while there. In one, she liked a post from @EndWokeness that showed people holding a “Jews for Palestine” sign with the message, “Chickens for KFC.” She also liked posts suggesting that people supporting a “Free Palestine” be sent to Gaza, to live under its rules.
Roughly 10 of those posts were gathered by constituents who oppose Mr. Goldman’s re-election, and were brought to his office’s attention in December 2023, as well as mentioned at one of Mr. Goldman’s town hall meetings. Ms. Goldman subsequently made her account on X private.
Mr. Goldman said in a statement that his wife’s social media activity should not be construed as representing his views.
“Like most married couples, my wife and I do not always share the same views, and any tweets she has liked as a private citizen do not speak for me,” Mr. Goldman said. “As an elected official and public figure, my record, votes and public statements are the only reflection of my beliefs.”
Simone Kanter, Mr. Goldman’s campaign manager and spokesman, said that Ms. Goldman plays only a minimal role in her husband’s campaign.
“Corinne is the campaign’s treasurer, but Dan has empowered multiple team members to run this operation, including a professional compliance firm with extensive experience,” Mr. Kanter said in a statement. “She has literally no role in the day-to-day strategic or substantive operation of this campaign outside of compliance.”
Many public officials have, at times, faced backlash as a result of the political activities of a spouse or partner.
Justice Samuel A. Alito Jr. was criticized after a flag carried by Jan. 6 rioters was discovered flying at his vacation home on the Jersey Shore. Mr. Alito said his wife had raised the flag amid a dispute with a neighbor. Justice Clarence Thomas has also faced concerns that the activities of his wife, the conservative political activist Ginni Thomas, represent a conflict of interest.
Members of NY-10 Neighbors and Dump Dan, two groups that oppose Mr. Goldman’s re-election, are seeking to make Ms. Goldman’s social media activity an issue in her husband’s campaign.
Michael Kranz, a software engineer who lives in Brooklyn and belongs to the two Goldman opposition groups, acknowledged that public officials should not always be judged by their partners’ actions, but argued that Ms. Goldman’s role as campaign treasurer conveyed more influence.
Mr. Kranz, who is Jewish, said it was the responsibility of Americans to “challenge bigotry in our family” and that Mr. Goldman seemed unwilling to do so.
Mr. Goldman has adopted a nuanced stance on Israel and Gaza. He supports Israel as a Jewish state, he says, but also believes in a two-state solution and Palestinian self-determination.
His wife’s activities on X, however, seem more cut and dried.
Ms. Goldman liked a comment on Oct. 9, 2023, from an account called “God Bless Donald Trump” that praised Victor Davis Hanson, a scholar at Stanford’s Hoover Institution and the author of “The Case for Trump.” Mr. Hanson wrote that if Hamas were to execute American hostages taken on Oct. 7, the United States should revoke the visas of and expel visitors from Palestinian territories, Iran and Qatar.
In another instance, Ms. Goldman liked a post from the right-wing conservative political commentator Matt Walsh in which he repeated his accusation that Black Lives Matter was “a terrorist organization,” pointing to the group’s Chicago chapter having posted a tweet that appeared to support Hamas’s actions in the Oct. 7 attack.
The tweet showed a descending paratrooper carrying a Palestinian flag with the words, “I stand with Palestine” beneath the image. BLM-Chicago has since deleted the tweet and apologized.
The next day, she liked another post from Mr. Walsh questioning California’s decision to create a special alert to help locate missing young Black people, who go missing at higher rates and who often receive less media attention. He said that “Black children are already covered by the Amber Alert,” and suggested that “once again we have a system that is absurdly racist toward whites.”
Megan Meier, a lawyer for Ms. Goldman, said that the likes and reposts that Mr. Goldman’s constituents had found to be offensive were not “a representative sample of her social media activity.”
“Corinne is a private figure,” Ms. Meier wrote in an email to lawyers for The New York Times. “She’s a mom of three young children, and she and her children were in Israel when, on October 7th, Hamas terrorists paraglided into the country and murdered and kidnapped hundreds of innocent civilians.”
Stu Loeser, a media strategist retained by Ms. Goldman, said that when she liked the tweet calling Black Lives Matter a terrorist organization, she was responding to the Chicago chapter showing what she thought was “support for Hamas.” He said that she has never believed that the “Black Lives Matter movement is a terrorist organization.”
Mr. Loeser contended that Ms. Goldman’s like of Mr. Walsh’s criticism of an “ebony alert” system was inadvertent, and that she had meant to like the original post about the policy.
Ms. Goldman, 47, a lawyer, grew up in an Orthodox family and is a graduate of Yeshiva University. She and Mr. Goldman met at an American Israel Public Affairs Committee event in 2012. Mr. Lander’s supporters have made an issue of Mr. Goldman’s support from AIPAC.
According to Federal Election Commission records, donors tied to AIPAC gave Mr. Goldman’s campaign at least $170,000 last year. The campaign received another $184,000 from donors tied to AIPAC from 2023 to 2024, according to Open Secrets, which tracks the influence of money in politics.
A spokeswoman for Mr. Lander declined to comment about Ms. Goldman’s social media activity.
Mr. Goldman, in his statement, said that he was “proud” to run on his record and was “eager to engage with the voters in my district” about his accomplishments as their congressman.
Sheelagh McNeill contributed research.
Jeffery C. Mays is a Times reporter covering politics with a focus on New York City Hall.
The post Congressman Faces Questions About Wife’s Social Media Stances on Israel appeared first on New York Times.
