Maureen Galindo, a Democratic congressional candidate in Texas' 35th District, has openly called for legislation targeting "American Zionists" — and proposed using a facility near San Antonio as what can only be described as an internment camp. This isn't some fringe activist screaming on a college quad. This is a candidate with a runoff election on May 26.
But sure, tell me more about how Republicans are the "threat to democracy."
RedState's Ben Smith flagged Galindo's Instagram post where she wrote that "When Maureen gets into Congress, she'll write legislation so that all Zionism and support of Zionism is undoubtedly Anti-Semitic." Read that again. A sitting congressional candidate is proposing legislation to criminalize political beliefs. She literally referenced the Karnes ICE Detention Center near San Antonio in her posts. The word "camp" isn't subtext here — it's the text.
Fox News correspondent Bill Melugin picked up the story and posted on social media: "Yes, it's real, and yes the post is still up. She has a runoff election next week." His post racked up 181,000 views by Tuesday evening. So people are paying attention — just not the people who run CNN and MSNBC.
When confronted about her rhetoric, Galindo didn't walk it back. She doubled down. "I think it's actually the zionists who are putting Jewish people at the most risk," she said. Classic move. Propose targeting a group of people and then claim you're actually protecting them. Where have we heard that logic before?
Her Instagram post about the proposal garnered 438 likes. Not a lot, you might say. But consider this: a Democratic candidate for the United States Congress is posting about internment and getting applauded for it. The number isn't the story. The applause is.
To his credit, Democratic state Senate nominee James Talarico actually condemned Galindo publicly. "This antisemitic rhetoric has no place in our politics," Talarico said. "We need leadership in both parties willing to stand up and call out hate where it rears its ugly head." Good for him. Now do the other 95% of your party that's going to pretend this never happened.
The San Antonio Jewish Federation also issued a statement: "Divisive and hateful rhetoric targeting the Jewish community has no place in our civic life." Correct. And yet here we are.
Galindo faces Johnny Garcia — a former Bexar County Public Information Officer — in the May 26 runoff for the newly redrawn Texas 35th Congressional District. Even her former primary opponent John Lira rescinded his endorsement of her. When a fellow Democrat pulls their endorsement, you know you've gone off the reservation.
Let's be clear about what's happening. This isn't an isolated incident. This is where the Democratic Party's base has been heading for years. The "Free Palestine" movement metastasized into open antisemitism, and the party leadership did absolutely nothing to stop it. Now you've got candidates — not protesters, not activists, candidates — calling for camps.
Imagine for one second if a Republican candidate had posted this about any group. We'd have wall-to-wall CNN coverage for six weeks. Congressional hearings. Hashtags. Celebrity statements. The full machine.
But a Democrat does it, and we get crickets. Funny how that works.
