Rep. Dan Goldman (D-NY) warned fellow Democrats Thursday against turning antisemitic protesters into political martyrs in their opposition to President Trump’s immigration enforcement actions. Goldman made the comments at a Jewish Democratic Council of America conference, expressing concern over the party’s response to the deportation of foreign students involved in anti-Israel and pro-Hamas campus demonstrations.
Goldman said Trump’s push to revoke student visas amounted to an “abuse of the First Amendment,” but cautioned Democrats not to fall into a trap. “We are seeing, because of Donald Trump’s overreach, that people who have espoused antisemitism are becoming martyrs, and that scares me,” he said.
The congressman, who co-chairs the House Bipartisan Task Force to Combat Antisemitism, argued that Democrats should not allow Trump to exploit antisemitism concerns for political purposes. “The fact that Donald Trump is abusing his power in the name of antisemitism is very troubling and so it has become harder to find common ground for the task force,” Goldman said.
He also urged Democrats to shift attention to the American hostages still held in Gaza, noting that only one remains alive. “[If] we allow our party to focus so much on these detentions of people who have espoused antisemitism, and we’re not talking about these hostages who have truly been treated as horribly as anybody and are American, in the five cases, we’re losing the forest for the trees,” Goldman said.
Goldman previously joined 20 other House Democrats in calling for Columbia University to dismantle an illegal anti-Israel protest encampment. His remarks reflect growing unease among moderate Democrats over the party’s reaction to rising campus antisemitism.
