Published originally in the New York Post.
[New York, NY – February 16th, 2022] During an online forum, Democratic former Rep. Max Rose — who is running to regain his seat after state Democrats made it more friendly to him through redistricting — accused the United States of “exporting anti-Semitic, white supremacist ideologies” across the globe.Rose’s comments came during a virtual forum on anti-Semitism and terrorism hosted last week by the American Jewish Congress.
Throughout the forum, the former New York congressman highlighted what he cited as the US’ failure to act against domestic terrorism, saying there are no federal domestic terrorism charges and no white supremacist organizations listed on the Foreign Terrorist Organization list.
“This is the No. 1 threat against Jewish communities right now,” Rose said, calling Congress’ lack of action against such organizations “an absence of will.”
“Just as Saudi Arabia exports Wahhabism and other dangerous streams of jihadist terrorist ideology … the United States of America right now is exporting anti-Semitic, white supremacist ideologies that are being taken up by organizations throughout the world — many of which have already been labeled terrorist organizations by entities such [as] New Zealand, Australia, Canada, United Kingdom, Central European nations and so on and so forth.”
In the US, there is no formal charge for domestic terrorism. Instead, federal agencies and prosecutors rely on other criminal charges, such as murder or assault.
Earlier in the forum, Rose pointed to the extremist organization Proud Boys as an example. The Proud Boys originated in the US and now have chapters in 40 nations, including Canada — which has designated it a terrorist organization, Rose said.
The former congressman went on to compare domestic terrorism in the US to jihadist terrorism in the early 1990s, urging the administration to do more.
“This administration needs to do more in this space,” Rose said. “Our safety — the safety of Jewish communities — relies on it, and we do not want to act after a horrific incident. We want to act before it.”
“[The Biden administration and its predecessors] will say — ironically — ‘Well, there are too many members of these organizations in the United States of America … so it’s not going to work,’” he added. “It’s patently absurd. The only reason why they’re not doing this is because they’re afraid.”
“All this requires is the will of this administration,” Rose later said.
Rose, an Army veteran who was wounded in Afghanistan, was elected to Congress in 2018, defeating two-term GOP incumbent Dan Donovan. Two years later, Republican Nicole Malliotakis defeated him by the same 6.4 percentage-point margin by which Rose had bested Donovan.
In December, Rose announced his intention to run again.
“People tell me if I had listened to the polls instead of doing what I thought was right, I would have won,” he said in a video announcement. “Maybe that’s true, but for me, some things are much more important than elections.”
The former congressman went on to accuse Republicans of “tearing America apart, just to hold on to power.”
“I’m running because this country, it can be affordable and fair,” he concluded. “Our politics can lift us up rather than tear us down.”
His campaign did not immediately respond to The Post’s request for comment.
