Dan Goldman Endorsed by Lower East Side Rabbis, Fake-Endorsed by Trump

By Reuvain Borchardt

NEW YORK — Congressional candidate Dan Goldman has received the support of a group of rabbis on the Lower East Side, completing a virtual sweep of Orthodox Jewish endorsements in the 10th Congressional District.

“We strongly urge all members of our community to vote in the Congressional primary next Tuesday, August 23rd for Dan Goldman,” the Lower East Side Rabbis Coalition, comprised of Rabbi Mayer Friedman, Rabbi Yissachar Ginsberg, Rabbi Yosef Tuvia Horowitz, Rabbi Zvi Room and Rabbi Shmuel Spiegel, wrote Wednesday in a letter to community members that was shared with Hamodia.

A poll this week by Emerson College/PIX 11/The Hill shows Goldman leading the field of a dozen Democratic candidates vying for the open seat in the district that includes all of Lower Manhattan and Brooklyn neighborhoods including Carroll Gardens, Boerum Hill, Park Slope, and Boro Park below 14th Avenue.

The letter outlined the specific policy reasons for which the rabbis supported Goldman, 46, a former Assistant U.S. Attorney who has never held elected office but rose to fame after prosecuting the first impeachment trial of then-President Donald Trump. An heir to the Levi Strauss fortune, Goldman is spending large sums of his own money on his campaign’s media blitz of the district.

“We look forward to Dan Goldman’s overwhelming support of Israel, the only true democracy in the Middle East,” the rabbis wrote. “Additionally, we believe Dan Goldman will help us strengthen and secure our community and we are confident that he will do all he can to ensure that our community does not suffer ill effects due to congestion pricing.”

Earlier this week, Goldman got the endorsements of more than two dozen Boro Park Chassidic groups and yeshivas, as well as Boro Park Assemblyman Simcha Eichenstein.

Goldman’s spokesperson did not respond to Hamodia’s requests for comment on the Boro Park and Lower East Side endorsements, and on whether the candidate agrees with the positions outlined in the rabbis’ letter.

Goldman is considered the most moderate of the half-dozen viable candidates, having taken pro-Israel and pro-business stances, and having ties to the religious community with a wife who is Modern Orthodox.

Meanwhile, in a social-media post Wednesday evening, Trump said it is his “great honor to Strongly Endorse” Goldman, in an apparent attempt to tweak his impeachment prosecutor.

“Lawyer Dan Goldman is running for Congress, NY-10, and it is my great honor to Strongly Endorse him,” the former president wrote on his social-media platform Truth Social. “I do this not because of the fact that he headed up the Impeachment Committee and lost, but because he was honorable, fair, and highly intelligent. While it was my honor to beat him, and beat him badly, Dan Goldman has a wonderful future ahead. He will be very compassionate and compromising to those within the Republican Party, and will do everything possible to make sure they have a fair chance at winning against the Radical Left Democrats, who he knows are destroying our Country. I would like to thank Dan for fighting so hard for America, and for working so tirelessly to stop ‘Trump.’ He was not easy to beat, but winning against him made me realize just how very talented I am!”

Candidate Yuh-Line Niou, a progressive Assemblywoman whom the poll showed in second place behind Goldman, apparently believed or pretended to believe Trump’s endorsement of her opponent was genuine, tweeting, “Donald Trump just endorsed my multi-millionaire opponent, in case you needed a reminder of what the stakes are. #NY10, choose your fighter.”

Goldman’s campaign was having none of it, subsequently issuing a statement that read, “Last week Donald Trump attacked Dan Goldman, who led his impeachment. Now he’s pretending to endorse Goldman. True to form, Trump is trying to meddle in an election. This is a pathetic attempt at fooling Democrats who are far smarter than Trump is, and it’s clear that only one candidate in NY-10 is living rent-free in Trump’s head. 

“Buckle up Donald. Dan’s coming for you.”

Later Wednesday night, during a live debate, candidate Mondaire Jones also attacked Goldman over Trump’s post.

“It was horrifying,” said Jones, ” that on our way to this very debate, Donald J. Trump endorsed Daniel Goldman, who is on this stage right now, saying that he’s the best chance that we got in this primary to defeat progressives like myself and others on this stage.”

Goldman responded, “We should know enough by now to know that we can’t take Donald Trump at his word, and that he likes to meddle in elections. Last week he attacked me; now he’s pretending to endorse me to try to meddle in this election. The fact that my opponent seems to actually take him seriously just shows how little he knows Donald Trump.”

Early voting is already underway and will continue through Sunday. Primary Day is Tuesday.

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rborchardt@hamodia.com