State Democratic Chairman Jay S. Jacobs came under fire from several corners of New York politics Monday after injecting Ku Klux Klan figure David Duke into hypothetical circumstances surrounding the contest for mayor of Buffalo.
Some New York lawmakers called for the chairman's resignation or that Gov. Kathy Hochul fire him after Jacobs was asked in Albany why he has not endorsed Walton as the party nominee. He said he did not view such backing as required, and raised the hypothetical case of Duke, former grand wizard of the Ku Klux Klan, moving to New York and winning a primary for mayor of Rochester.
Both candidates for mayor of Buffalo are wielding sharpened campaign knives this week.
“I have to endorse David Duke? I don’t think so,” Jacobs said in an interview with Spectrum News. “Now of course, India Walton is not in the same category, but it just leads you to that question – is it a must? It’s not a must.”
People are also reading…
The most prominent condemnation stemmed from Sen. Charles E. Schumer.
“The statement was totally unacceptable and the analogy used was outrageous and beyond absurd,” he said.
The contrasting philosophies of Mayor Byron Brown and challenger India Walton on policing mirror a nationwide dialogue about the American criminal justice system.
Jacobs’ statement, which he later emphasized was hypothetical, prompted criticism of the Duke comparison by Sochie Nnaemeka, director of the New York State Working Families Party, as “racist and appalling rhetoric.”
“We are absolutely disgusted that Jay Jacobs would compare India Walton – a Black woman and leader in her community – to KKK Grand Wizard David Duke,” she said. “We expect Governor Hochul, Senator Schumer, and Democratic leaders to echo our outrage and stand behind the Democratic nominee India Walton.”
New York City Public Advocate Jumaane D. Williams put pressure on Hochul by asking if she agreed. Jacobs has endorsed Hochul for election in 2022.
"Jay Jacobs and other Democratic leaders have preached party unity above all else, until it was inconvenient for them," he said. "This is the toxicity that has long plagued New York’s politics and prevented New York’s progress – and it cannot be ignored."
Jacobs told The Buffalo News on Sunday that he would not back a socialist like Walton, pointing to the fodder it would supply opposing Republicans.
