Failed Republican Candidate Warns Jews to 'Get Out' of NYC

Moderate Republican Brian Robinson warns Jews in New York City to "get out" after he loses a city council election to Democrat incumbent Keith Powers.

Robinson, who is a Jewish American, campaigned on fighting against antisemitism and hate, and had a focus on crime, education, homelessness, and small businesses. Powers, who has represented New York City's 4th City Council district since 2018, campaigned on his experience with preventing housing discrimination, expanding recycling and composting, reforming the criminal justice system, and supporting small businesses.

Powers announced his win on Tuesday evening via a post on X, formerly Twitter. "From Stuyvesant Town to Carnegie Hill, I'm deeply grateful to the residents of District 4 for your continued support and confidence. I'll never take that for granted. I'm extremely lucky to serve this great district—and the greatest city in the world," he posted.

Meanwhile, Robinson posted about his defeat early Wednesday morning, calling for Jews to "get out while you can."

"Thank you to all that fight the good fight with me. NYC is irredeemable. Congratulations to .@KeithPowersNYC. The city has blindly chosen its own suicide. Jews, get out while you can. My family will be. To the Nazi machine machine that killed a great city: You are a grave disappointment," he posted.

Robinson told Newsweek via email, "My family and I hear calls for our genocide daily on the streets of NYC. It is heartbreaking and I fear for my family's lives."

Powers was endorsed by the Professional Staff Congress-CUNY, a union that represents faculty and staff at the City University of New York and the CUNY Research Foundation.

"All that said, though my words were harsh, they are true. We do need to leave. I don't trust CUNY-endorsed politicians to lead us out of this nightmare," Robinson said.

Newsweek reached out to Powers and PSC-CUNY via email for comment.

An X user who goes by Robato11, defended the city, commenting: "NYC is great. Will be even better when you get F outta there. I hear rents in Moscow are totes cheap!" Robinson replied: "NYC is a haven for antisemites."

Journalist Dan Casey commented: "The city you wanted to lead is irredeemable because it didn't vote for you? Bitter much? Congrats on your loss!"

Meanwhile, others were sympathetic to Robinson's loss. "Sorry you didn't win...it wasn't a good night for Republicans period. I think GOP is a wreck not just NYC and 2024 is knocking on the door. Prayers for you and NYC," X user @jessica_nyc said. Another X user who goes by Rose posted: "I am sorry you lost."

According to voting results re-posted on Powers' X account on Tuesday night, Powers got 11,412 votes while Robinson got 3,894 (74.23 percent to 25.33 percent).

Robinson sent Newsweek updated results on Wednesday evening that were taken at 11:20 a.m. With 93 percent of the votes counted, Powers garnered 12,216, to Robinson's 4,348 (73.8 percent to 26.3 percent).

Voter turnout was low for this election, which had every city council seat on the ballot, according to the New York City's Board of Elections. Nearly 313,000 people in New York City voted, according to numbers from the Board of Election, compared to the 4.6 million active voters in the city.

Michael Ryan, executive director of the Board of Elections of New York City, told CBS that voters are more drawn to presidential, gubernatorial and mayoral races, saying this year "happens to be an off-year election where there are no major offices at the top of the ticket."

Update 11/08/23, 6:06 p.m. ET: This article has been updated to include comment from Robinson and additional information.