Ryan EXCLUSIVE: Synagogue Attacker Family Killed By Israel

0:00 All right, everybody. We are fortunate to be joined this morning by Brad Lander. He of course is former New York City comproller, uh former mayoral candidate, and current congressional candidate in New York City. Great to see you sir. >> Great to be on with you. >> Uh have a bunch of things we want to get to here. There's a lot going on in New York City, the country, and the world at large. Um first wanted to just get your reaction to the uh war of choice in Iran. I mean, the fact that American taxpayer dollars are being used to light the Middle East on fire, that thousands of people are dead, including hundreds of kids at that school, including US service members, that we've made millions of refugees, 3/4 of a million in Lebanon, probably over 2 million in Iran, that we've shredded American

0:45 credibility in the world and are doing irreparable damage to international law. And for what? Um, you know, the American public is against it. Where is Congress being louder to stop it? Article one of the Constitution says Congress decides whether we declare war. It is outrageous and I'm outraged. >> And your So your opponent, Representative Dan Goldman, he voted for the War Powers Resolution that would have restricted Trump's war. uh all but four Democrats in the House and one in the Senate, you know, voted for that. But there's been a very w long and wide kind of spectrum about how people are talking about the war. Some lead with, well, I we understand Iran can't have a

1:31 nuclear weapon and cite a lot of justifications for it and then say, but you know, I don't trust Trump to wage this. Others have just said the war needs to end today. It was illegal to begin with. uh what where are you on that spectrum and what's the what would you describe as the difference between you and your opponent on on your approach to it? >> Yeah, I mean uh the war needs to end today. We shouldn't spend any more money on it and I am opposed to it. I mean of course the Iranian regime has uh repressed and killed its own people. Uh of course there you know needs to be attention to making sure that they don't get a nuclear weapon. But we know from our own Defense Intelligence Agency assessment that they weren't getting closer. Um, and that this was simply a war of choice. I mean, Marco Rubio said

2:18 out loud that Netanyahu essentially baited Trump into this war. Um, I've been real loud about it. My opponent voted for the War Powers Resolution, but has not been loud about it. um and supporters of my opponent. I mean, he gets a lot of funding from Apac donors. Apac is cheerleading this war. Um so, I think there's a pretty strong distinction, >> right? Uh if if we can talk for a moment about the uh attack on the synagogue in Michigan yesterday, >> uh >> what was your and also there was another there was another attack in in Virginia. Um what was your immediate reaction?

3:05 What's your reaction as you've learned more about what has >> we can add that this is all on the heels of what happened outside Gracie Mansion. Obviously u last week there was immediately after the war began. Austin, Texas uh saw an an act of apparently terrorism. Uh so it does seem uh like these events are are popping up in some frequency just over the last the first two weeks of this war. >> Yeah. So, one uh one of the rabbis at Temple Israel in West Bloomfield was a cabin counselor with me at a Jewish summer camp outside of Indianapolis in the summer of 1987 after I graduated from high school. Josh Bennett's his name and actually his older brother was my rabbi and still is my parents rabbi in St. Louis. So, the stuff is hitting pretty close to home. So, my first

3:51 reaction yesterday was like, that's my friend in that synagogue. And um you know thankfully very quickly you know that incident was resolved thanks to the first responders and mostly what was going on in that synagogue at that time was preschool. Uh and people shouldn't be afraid to go pray or send their kids to preschool in synagogues or any other house of worship. Anti-semitism is on the rise. Um, and we have to call it out and work together to say it'll never be normal. It's got to be safe. What are the local strategies people are taking? Um, and it is also true that in the wake of war, uh, violence gets, um, more common. That

4:39 never makes it okay. Not okay for ISIS inspired terrorists to throw, you know, incendiary devices near Gracie Mansion. Not okay for someone to drive a vehicle into a synagogue and then try to start shooting it up. Not okay for Tommy Tuberville and Randy Fine to go on Islamophobic rants on social media. Um, you know, the responsibility if you value human life and you care about people is to tone down rhetoric, to try to normalize understanding, to condemn acts of hate. But one more consequence of launching a reckless and illegal war in addition to all the damage that it's doing to millions of people there is that it has this sort of diffuse effect

5:26 of spreading and normalizing violence more broadly. So some responsibilities on the hands of the people who started it. >> Um go ahead. I was just going to I have this uh quote from you uh reacting to Tommy Tubberville who is uh senator saying the enemy is inside the gates and posting pictures of 911 alongside uh Mayor Mom Donnie. Um and uh you you reacted to this pretty strongly. You said I can't even find the words to express how repugnant and despicable this post is. People spew such Islamophobic bile don't belong in the United States Congress. job of elected officials to combat hate, not fan its flame. Shame on Senator Tubberville. Keep New York City out of your bigoted mouth. This Jewish New Yorker is proud. We elected our first Muslim mayor. Uh

6:12 we've seen similar comments from Randy Fine. A distressingly large number of Republicans when confronted with these sorts of comments. Republican elected officials, I should clarify, unable to fully say uh that, you know, that this is bigotry and and call it out directly. Uh, here's Congressman Randy Fine saying, "We need more Islamophobia, not less. Fear of Islam is rational." So, first of all, just your reaction to the, um, extremely overtly bigoted nature of these comments. And also, I'm wondering, you know, if this is if you're experiencing this in New York City, uh, this rise in overt Islamophobia or if this is more of a national politician, um, direction. Sadly, it's right here in New York City as well. We've got a city

6:58 council member, Vicky Paladino, whose comments are right up there with Randy Fine and Tommy Tubberville. And you know, the normalizing like to say is we need more Islamophobia. I mean, it is true on the one hand that there have been more anti-semitic incidents and hate crimes than Islamophobic ones over the last, you know, couple of years. But no one is saying anti-semitism is okay. How do we combat it? What do we do about it? How do we confront it? What is it? Who's responsible for it? What's its definition? All of those are debates and and questions. But no one I've heard one person say, uh, it's acceptable. It's all right. Hatred of Jews is rational. You know, we at least have a consensus

7:44 that we're against Jew hatred. We're against anti-semitism, and we're going to work to stop it. And lo and behold, senators and Congress members and council members uh of Republicans are here saying, "We're going to fan the flames of hatred of Muslims in a city that, you know, we got about a million and a half Jews. We got about a million Muslims. We have our first Muslim mayor." And yes, I am proud as a Jewish New Yorker to have supported him and that we elected our first Muslim mayor. That's what this city is, is a place that welcomes people from all over the world and takes people with different religious and faith traditions and makes us into New Yorkers. That's what's supposed to be true about America as well. Um, that's why we have to work

8:29 harder to like defeat Donald Trump. uh this blood and soil conservatism that is being in this case weaponized against our Muslim neighbors during Ramadan um is really frightening and it it unfortunately is likely to lead to they're just doing it on Twitter with words but we know how this works. Someone is going to be inspired by those words to do something violent and we've got work to do not to let it happen. >> Lawmakers in New York have a challenge on their hands. I have referenced your post about Gracie Mansion a couple of times this week cuz I thought you it was it was really the right thing to do and it was so well said. You uh after saying vile displays of Islamophobia will never be tolerated in our city, you then followed up and said, "I'm sorry for

9:15 jumping to conclusions and posting too soon, but I'm not sorry for hating Islamophobia as much as I hate anti-semitism." And I just wanted to ask, I mean, there are already cameras, NYPD cameras, uh, that have been surveilling New Yorkers, much to the anger of civil liberties advocates in the city for a long time. But people don't exactly feel safe right now with good reason. There are crazy things happening all around the country. uh how are we balancing or how do you think about balancing those civil liberty concerns uh with also the very real fears that people have of of radical extremists uh taking measures into their own hands fl throwing explosive devices on the upper east side uh how how do you think about those well these lines are pretty straightforward I think sometimes

10:01 people try to fudge them I it's permissible to protest and say things and say hateful things like I am for the freedom of those Islamophobic protesters who were outside Gracie Mansion to be able to say vile, despicable, bigoted things. And I'm for Tommy Tubberville and Randy Fines rights to say despi, despicable, vile, hateful things on Twitter and stand for office doing so. I'm going to say I find them vied and hateful and despicable and that we're going to work hard not to elect them. and counterprotesters uh calling it vile and hateful and pointing out the Islamophobia also is important and generally I will say the

10:47 NYPD in my experience in this in this work do a decent job do a pretty good job of separating protesters and saying here's a place where you can protest and here's a place where you can counterprotest and the line was crossed uh when people threw uh explosive devices that's when it moved moves from speech to violence. And in that case also, I mean, the the video of those NYPD officers running toward the devices to keep people safe. Like that is what we want from law enforcement. It's a dangerous job to keep people safe from violence because even the Islamophobes should not be exposed to bombs or violence. I mean, the mayor shouldn't and the counterprotesters shouldn't. So, that line, I think, is is straightforward and

11:32 we have a responsibility to like make those distinctions. That's free speech. You've got a right to say it. You shouldn't face violence for it. I hate it. I find it despicable. I'm going to make do work to do everything I can to make sure you're not in office. And violence by people who are saying things whether I agree or disagree with them is never acceptable. And there have to be consequences for it. >> So one more question on this before we move on to the the Hokll thing. with the broader context of obviously the ongoing genocide in Gaza, the Israeli invasion of Lebanon, now the war in Iran obviously, what do you think the role of Apac is going to play or the Israel lobby broadly in your election in your district specifically? Do you think there could be some element of, you know, getting support from the Israel lobby could backfire or could be seen as

12:17 a negative? Where where do you think that's going to play out? Look, Apac knows that its support is being viewed negatively. And that's why in all these Illinois races, they're not spending money saying, "Here's our point of view, and it's opposed to this candidate's point of view." They're just throwing trash and dirt and whatever they can dig up at the candidates whose point of view on Israel and Palestine they oppose. So, that's their playbook right now. I mean, and I suspect they'll do it here as well. uh you know Dan Goldman, my opponent, is is heavily supported by by Apac and I I assume therefore there already is super PAC spending you know for him and against me in this race and I imagine there'll be a lot more of it and yeah I mean I think you know as a a

13:05 Jewish New Yorker who like is really proud of it you know is really clear about it um I I think they like even less someone that says it's time to end unconditional US support for for genocide. Um, and what I believe though is that the residents of New York's 10th Congressional District feel that way as well. Uh, and they've seen the playbook too and they know me. Uh, and you know, I'm optimistic that that spending will not change the opportunity to have a real dialogue. But I wish we could do more about it. I mean, let me be clear. I passed here in New York something called the Independent Expenditure Disclosure Act, boldest local law in the country. So if you do an independent expenditure in New York City elections,

13:52 the top three individual donors have to sign their name on the lit piece or on the ad. That's as far as you can go under Citizens United. But Congress could pass a law, not waiting for Citizens United, to require super PAC spending be disclosed, not just generically on a website, but on the lit or on the ads, and then maybe people would be less likely to throw millions of dollars after, you know, such sciralless advertising. I did one last one last question on this theme before Hokan taxes. Um, in in case people missed it, yesterday we reported that um the the name of the the driver who drove his truck um into the synagogue uh was uh Aean Gazela. And it turns out and

14:38 this is and I want to get your sense uh how and your reaction to this because this is difficult stuff to even talk about and contextualize because it feels like you're justifying. But of course, we're all adults and we understand that one that explanations or motives are not necessarily justifications for violence. But we learned uh that uh Gazela's family in Lebanon um were were four four members of them were killed in an air strike last week. Uh his his little niece, little nephew, Ali and Fatima, and then two of his brothers um Kasim and Ibrahim. and he posted on his WhatsApp stories overnight their pictures and then the next thing we know the next day he attacks this synagogue.

15:26 Um, you know, how how do you how how did you respond? I assume you saw that reporting. If you did, how did you how did you think through that? >> Yeah, I mean, thank you for the for the reporting, however awful and horrific and challenging it is to think through. Look, violence doesn't justify violence in response. War crimes, you know, are not an excuse for a next war crime, you know, and targeting civilians doesn't isn't a justification for acts of violence or harming other people's children. Obviously, the the people of West Bloomfield, Michigan and Temple, Israel, are not responsible for the deaths of of his family members or other kids in Lebanon. and blaming Jews

16:12 generically for the actions of Israel um is a form of of anti-semitism. So all those things are true. And also violence begets violence. Like when people's families are killed, they're enraged and they lose their ability in some cases to think rationally and you lower the bar on horrible things that people do. So, um I don't think I mean I I guess it's a nuance, but it is the case that when Israel is at war, there are more acts of anti-semitic violence against Jews around the world. That doesn't justify them, but it is a fact. And this in

16:57 particular, this reckless war of choice when there was not an immediate threat to anyone's safety, you know, I guess I think like that's maybe the way to say it here. there was not um you know they're they're not on the cusp of getting nuclear weapons. They weren't about to launch a war or strikes. They were not immediately threatening anyone with harm. And what Trump and Netanyahu have done is launched a war that's killed thousands of people. This made millions of people refugees. I guess I do want to underline this as well. They have a right-wing politics based on fear of refugees and they've just made several million people refugees in a way that's going to reverberate. We might not feel that. That'll be felt in Europe more than here. The people fleeing

17:43 Lebanon and Iran and war start moving throughout the world. Um, but the consequences of escalating violence are bad for everyone. Like this war is bad for everyone. It's bad for the people of Iran who were bravely protesting for their freedom just a few short weeks ago. They're not closer, doesn't look to me like, to freedom or stability, and many more are are refugees and and many more are dead. It's bad for the people of Lebanon. Um, it's bad for Muslims here. It's bad for Jews here. I I don't know who it's good for. >> Yeah. If I could just add one thing to that, I think you're right when you say that, you know, you particularly drive um entities like Apac crazy as a proud Jew and also someone who criticizes

18:29 Israel because groups like Apac and ADL all the way up to Benjamin Netanyahu himself love to conflate all Jews with the state of Israel. And I think what you also see and you know neo-Nazis by the way do the same thing. The Nick Fuentes of the world love to make that conflation as well. And I think what you see also with this attack is the way that that puts Jews at risk. Because if you're saying we're all responsible, we're all in on this horrific genocide and these horrific atrocities that are being committed and you create this sort of collective responsibility. And again, this is coming from groups like the ADL, Apac, Benjamin Netanyahu, as well as the far-right neo-Nazis like Fuentes. When you create that perception, then yes, that is going to create more danger and

19:16 more risk for all sorts of Jewish people. >> Agreed. So Kathy Hog, Mac, do you have the Kathy Hokll? So Kathy Hokll spoke yesterday. >> Brad, you could do a better job of I think setting the stage here, but >> uh effectively that New York City has a and you're the former comproller. Nobody knows this better than you, has a balanced budget amendment, which means you have to uh either have enough revenue to cover spending or you have to cut spending to match that and or you have to if or you can raise revenue and if you're going to match the spending and so Zora Mandani ran um with your uh you know loud support on a very clear platform of covering that gap by taxing the rich, but the state has the power to

20:04 allow him to do that. this, as I understand it, the state senate and state assembly have both now passed bills that would raise taxes that would allow for the raising of taxes on the superw wealthy. They're slightly different, so they have to be conferenced. Um, but in principle, the state legislature now, so you have voters of New York City agreeing that we need to tax the rich. You have the state legislature agreeing that you need to tax the rich. You've had Hokll saying, "We're not going to do that." You've had the New York City president uh saying, New York City council president saying, "We're not going to do that." which then pushes things over to property tax increases instead which M has said I don't want to do that so she ends up Julie what's her name Julie Minan Min City >> yeah so she's pushing for cuts instead hok though it's this seems like the first break that we've seen from from

20:52 Hokll potential opening uh to raise taxes let's play this clip and I'm going to get your response to it >> I philosophically don't have a problem it is like I have to look at the fact that we are in competition with other states who have less of a tax burden on their corporations and their individuals. >> The Progressive Working Families Party? >> Yeah. So, she said, "I I philosophically don't have a problem with raising taxes on the wealthy." That is Is that a is that a new is is that is that hopeful for the Mom Donnie camp? There >> it is. I agree. That's the first time that I have heard Governor Hokll say something that indicates room for compromise with the legislature here. Um, and look, there's a lot of choices. Uh, you know, a great the state senate finance chair Liz Krueger was on the Senate floor day before yesterday

21:38 pointing out one of the things they've proposed is just eliminating a tax break on gold bullion. It turns out that if you hold gold bullion as a form of wealth in your basement or I don't know in your bank in New York, you get a tax break that was implemented a couple of decades ago and just a state on the books. $600 million is what the state is giving up every year by a tax break on gold bullion. So like that's not even, you know, an additional tax on ultramillionaires or an increase in the corporate tax. There's, you know, Americans know that the ultra wealthy have found lots of loopholes and ways of shielding themselves from fair taxation and it's overwhelmingly popular. Uh, and I think the fact that that Governor Hokll sees that the state senate and the

22:23 assembly have put these things in their bills and that we want to be able to expand child care without cutting our schools or maintenance in our parks um is is what we need to do. And yes, she's right that other governors are also going to face this choice um in a world where you know Donald Trump is uh you know is as a result of sort of the inflationary pressures of the tariffs as a result of so many cuts to federal policies. You know New York State is currently picking up food stamp costs that were being borne by the federal government and the city and state together trying to deal with some big housing voucher cuts that Trump made. So this is a choice that governors and legislators are going to be facing and the right answer is to in modestly

23:10 increase taxes on the wealthiest folks and that's what Albany has the choice to do over the next couple of weeks. Modest increases getting rid of that gold bullion tax. A modest increase in the corporate tax, a modest increase on New Yorkers who make over $25 million a year who love New York City. Um they're not going to leave it as a result of a modest tax increase. We actually aren't talking about I mean billions of dollars is a significant amount of money, but what's necessary here to close the budget gap for New York City uh and to allow us to get toward universal child care without big cuts um is a modest increase on the wealthiest New Yorkers. And I hope that you know, Governor Hokll's comments yesterday indicate a willingness to reach a deal with the

23:57 legislature to get there. Listen, I used to make fun of the gold bugs, but I've been thinking lately maybe I need to acquire some gold bullion given the instability of the world right now. So, I need to check here in Virginia if we've got any similar tax breaks on the books. Um, one more thing from me. In any case, I wanted to get your reaction. Uh, former Governor Cuomo had some, uh, had some thoughts on you, uh, Brad, and so wanted to get your reaction to this. You and also Zoron, of course. So, let's take a listen. Now look, there is no truth anymore. There is no accountability anymore. What uh Zoron knows is you say whatever is convenient to say. Just put it out there on social media. Of course, it's

24:42 not true. He was shocked and surprised that there's a 12 billion dollar budget. Mayor Adams lied. Everybody lied. Yeah. Turns out he's the liar. Brad Lander, I don't think he's got a genuine bone in his body. He's a pandering politician, the Democrat, far-lefty. He wanted to patronize the far-left >> and show that he was with them in his anti-Israel views. That's all it is. Pandering. Pure pandering. >> This man is really one to talk about accountability. In any case, >> he's in his Rush Limbbo era. Let him let him cook. Yeah, there you go. In any case, Brad, are you are you patronizing me right now? >> What I responded with, I mean, first it

25:27 bears a second. I mean, Andrew Cuomo is a master of projection. Obviously, he's never had a seriously held position other than whatever benefits Andrew Cuomo and he can't stand anyone else believing the things they say. I think that's pretty straightforward. I responded with some letters I had written to my hometown Jewish newspaper in 1990 when I was a junior in college uh when I expressed more or less the same point of view on Israel and Palestine that I have today. That newspaper had published some political cartoons making Palestinians look like rats. And I wrote the editor who had been my teacher in Sunday school and said please don't do this. like we have to find a way to mutual, you know, recognition and peace. And, you know, I linked it on my Twitter. If people want

26:13 to go read the back and forth, you can. But, um, what I responded with is yes. Um, I started my long con of faking my positions on Israel when I was 20 years old in 1990 just for the purpose of trolling and defeating Andrew Cuomo. Diabolical. >> Every minute was worth it. >> It's 5D chess. >> All right. Well, uh, I'm sure you have a lot to get to today and we're really grateful for your time. Um, Brad, if you can let people know where they can go to find out more about your campaign or support it if they are so inclined. >> Thank you so much, bradlander for congress.com. We've got canvases every day. Uh, we're building something really powerful together. Please come join us. >> Amazing. Thanks. Great to see you. >> Thank you all.

26:58 >> All right, guys. So, that was uh Brad Lander. And we have a lot more that we want to get to in the premium portion, in particular, Tech Bros just being the most insane, diabolical, disturbing people you could possibly imagine. Um, and also an update on those IDF soldiers who were caught on camera gang raping a Palestinian detainee. Uh, now the charges against them have been dropped. So, we'll discuss what's going on with that as well. If you want access to the premium show, guess what guys? The month free trial is still going on through Sunday. Uh what is it? BP free26. That's right. We want to free the BP26. >> We don't know who they are, but we know they need to be free. Yeah, we want them to be free. So anyway, BP free26 to

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