Pols Boycott BK Dems Election Forum Over Bigoted Comments: Report

BROOKLYN, NY — A group of top political candidates are boycotting a Brooklyn Democratic Party election forum after xenophobic comments from one of the party's district leaders, the Brooklyn Paper reports.

Two borough president candidates and at least four mayoral hopefuls have backed out of the upcoming forum after an open letter from county committee members and other district leaders calling for the resignation of Marine Park Leader Lori Maslow.

Maslow resigned from her position as sixth vice chair of the party earlier this month after coming under fire for comments against Chinese and Palestinian people, but still holds her spot as the Democratic female district leader for the 41st Assembly District, according to the Paper.

“From the poisonous legacy of the Trump era, we understand all too well the impact of hate-filled rhetoric. Words matter, especially from our local representatives,” the party members wrote in an open letter published Jan. 25, which has been signed by nearly 200 party members, voters and local groups. “The Brooklyn Democratic Party cannot continue with business as usual, hosting a candidate forum, while Leader Maslow and Chair [Rodneyse] Bichotte remain silent on Leader Maslow’s future with the Brooklyn Democratic Party.”

The Democrats called on party leaders to release a plan for improving relations with groups offended by Maslow's comments and to urge for her resignation.

So far, the candidates who have backed out of the forum include mayoral hopefuls Dianne Morales, Council Member Carlos Menchaca, Andrew Yang, Comptroller Scott Stringer and candidates for Brooklyn Borough President, Assembly Member Jo Anne Simon and Council Member Antonio Reynoso.

Maslow's bigoted comments include a recent tweet that she couldn’t “even look at Chinese food” in reference to a New York Times story about Chinese tariffs and earlier tweets implying that Palestinians would be wiped “off the face of the earth,” as well as several insults she lobbed at a Palestinian-American congresswoman from Michigan, Rashida Tlaib, according to the Paper.

Read the Brooklyn Paper's full story here.