Republican New York state Assembly candidate criticized for antisemitic remark

Michael Capalbo, a republican candidate for the New York state Assembly, is being criticized for allegedly using antisemitic language and tropes during a debate at the League of Women Voters on Monday.

Julia Rosier

Oct 12, 2024, 2:30 AM

Updated 23 days ago

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Michael Capalbo, a Republican candidate for the New York state Assembly, is being criticized for allegedly using antisemitic language and tropes during a debate at the League of Women Voters on Monday.
“They throw some shekels to do some work in her community,” says Capalbo during the debate.
Jann Mirchandani, the Yorktown Democratic Committee chair, told News 12 this was in reference to Assemblywoman Dana Levenberg, who is a Jewish legislator.
"I am very grateful to my local Democratic committee chairs and others for forcefully condemning the antisemitic, xenophobic and misleading comments made by my opponent during our debate on Monday. There can be no tolerance for that kind of behavior in our civic life,” Levenberg wrote in a statement.
Both Mirchandani and Catherine Borgia, the Ossining Town Democratic Committee chair, wrote a letter stating they strongly condemn the language used by Capalbo.
"The language that he was using was really just offensive and divisive throughout the entire thing,” says Mirchandani.
Capalbo has since apologized for the comment.
"I did a lousy job speaking off the top of my head at the forum, and I will never use that word again. I genuinely apologize to Ms. Levenberg,” Capalbo wrote in a statement.