Tweto https://x.com/MichaelKarlis/status/2056795237540925858
House candidate Maureen Galindo pledges to send ‘American zionists’ to internment camp
Controversy-tarred congressional candidate Maureen Galindo this week pledged to transform a site south of San Antonio now used by the Trump administration to detain migrants into an internment camp for “American Zionists.”
“She’ll turn Karnes ICE Detention Center into a prison for American Zionists and former ICE officers for human trafficking,” Galindo wrote in an Instagram post over the weekend, referring to herself in the third person. “It will also be a castration processing center for pedophiles, which will probably be most of the Zionists.”
Galindo’s latest set of inflammatory remarks comes as the Democratic hopeful for Texas’ newly redrawn 35th Congressional District continues to draw national attention for remarks critics have called antisemitic and untethered from reality. The controversy is snowballing as she heads into the May 26 Democratic primary runoff.
Over the past week, Galindo has accused her runoff opponent — former Bexar County Public Information Officer Johnny Garcia — of participating in a human trafficking conspiracy orchestrated by billionaire zionist Jews. She also pledged during a Texas Public Radio interview to put Garcia on trial for treason.
Beyond her attacks on Garcia, Galindo has continued to promote the narrative that a cabal of Jewish zionists controls Hollywood, the media and even local politicians.
Even so, in comments to the Current and other media outlets, Galindo maintained she only has an issue with zionists, or those advocating for the existence of a Jewish state in their ancestral homeland, rather than Jews in general.
“I think it’s actually the zionists who are putting Jewish people at the most risk,” Galindo told the Current last week.
AOC has denouced her
I get that this is about where the median is for internet messaging, but I don't think "castrate people" translates to a successful campaign in like a door knocking, interacting with people face to face sense. I don't even think it does much to shift the Overton window.
I don't disagree with the sentiment, but if you're doing electoralism, it just doesn't seem strategically sound. Saying something that others find shocking and frustrating because you yourself are shocked and frustrated with the state of US foreign policy. Cathartic maybe, but... i dunno I fail to see how its anything more than cathartic.
I'm not sure about that. Right-wing politicians often promote castration for pedophilesremoveds as part of their "tough on crime"-image*. The general position of the left with regard to crime (rehabitalisation, reducing poverty) is seen as weak by these people. I look at this campaign as an interesting experiment: can it succesfully manage to inlude people who the left generally doesn't reach? And also: is the sentiment around Palestine now at a point where the public (which doesn't care as much about decorum as the general politician or media-figure) likes this sort of rhetoric?
*Some examples after a couple of minutes of googling, all from 2026:
Idk about the castration part, but I'm glad someone with any amount of power is calling for harsher treatment of US Zionists instead of deflecting with something like "so you want to kill my little Jewish grandma?" Incendiary speech seems to be the new norm, so it could work.
"All ICE agents and superiors who participated in constitutional violations, family separation, abuse, disappearance, detention without due process, or psychological terror will be exposed, prosecuted, and jailed as they have proven to be a danger to society." Like yes please.
from my understanding she actually came in first during the first round of voting lmao, who knows if she will win the runoff but i actually think this might work, "castrate all pedophiles" is not really an uncommon position in texas
Ah, I forgot this was specifically the Texas electorate. Ok, maybe the messaging is tailored to people who don't spend their free time online.
Not electorally sound? Trump and the Republicans built a whole movement by pandering to the wingnut members of society. They are in power at this very moment. Toss in some M4A, taxes on the rich, with cuts to the Pentagon, and she might have a winning strategy.
Pandering to wingnuts works for them because Republicans spent the better part of a century building a whole bunch of structural advantages into the election process, and Democrats think the smart respectable thing to do is to pander to the other party's base.
I think it just becomes the same problem as chasing moderates. Why would "moderate" conservative voters vote for diet-republican, when regular republican is right there? Why would wingnuts vote for Wingnut: Now With Less Race Realism when Original Wingnut is right there? I just don't see this strategy working outside of Texas.
I'd vote for her before I would ever vote for a Cuck Schumer. Her stance on Zionism and Instreal is closer to Democratic base opinion than Schumer, AOC, or the media.
"Lock her up" was a slogan.
I see it more as a disappointing failed campaign promise
I'm not sure people believed he would really do it, either way, it's what everyone wants to hear.