Brad Lander’s congressional marketing campaign launch hit an sudden velocity bump Wednesday when his X, previously Twitter, account was briefly hijacked by hackers posting about crypto windfalls and a powder-blue Cadillac.
The outgoing metropolis comptroller rapidly turned the episode right into a joke and a fundraising pitch as he kicked off his major problem to Rep. Dan Goldman in Brooklyn on Dec. 10.
Earlier than arriving at Park Slope’s Nitehawk Cinema for his official launch occasion, Lander resurfaced on-line with a quip: “Logging back on from my new Cadillac CT5-V Blackwing after a busy launch day. Did I miss anything?”
Lander, 56, mentioned he didn’t know “why or by whom” his account was breached, however said that his workforce labored with the platform to revive entry.
“People know I’m not a Bitcoin hawker,” he advised New York News, including that nobody would mistake him for the crypto-supporting mayor, Eric Adams, nor think about he had Cadillacs to promote.
The problem offered some levity to a room in any other case primed for urgency. In a nod to his launch-day advert, Lander once more solid himself as “Mr. Rogers with a steel spine,” telling supporters the nation is going through a “five-alarm fire for our democracy” and desires leaders prepared to confront Donald Trump’s “attacks on immigrants, civil rights, and democratic institutions.”
Goldman’s marketing campaign workforce advised New York News on Wednesday that the Congressman is happy with his progressive document and that he wouldn’t be worrying about any challengers to his seat till the brand new 12 months.
‘Body on the line’
Lander’s spouse, Meg Barnette, advised supporters crammed into the Nitehawk Cinema’s bar house that the district can’t accept “business as usual,” including that “sternly worded letters and very strong press conferences are not going to cut it.”
She described Lander’s “relentless energy” and mentioned the marketing campaign would rely upon collective motion: “Brad cannot do this alone. He needs all of you… you are hungry for the ways that Brad is going to inspire activism, bring people together, and organize this district to stand up for our neighbors, our city, and our principles.”
Working Households Get together co-director Ana María Archila. Photograph by Lloyd Mitchell
Working Households Get together co-director Ana María Archila, who endorsed Lander on day one, emphasised his lengthy document of supporting staff and immigrants. She recalled assembly him in 2003, “before he was elected to City Council… before he was a national model for moral courage,” and praised his willingness to “fight for workers… fight for tenants… and put his body on the line.”
“This district,” Archila mentioned, “is the birthplace of the idea that we deserve a kind of politics that puts people at the center, instead of bending the knee to the rich and well-connected. And that is why we are so proud to stand here today to say we are ready for this fight.”
Public Advocate Jumaane Williams, one other “day-one” endorser, framed Lander because the type of Democrat the second calls for. “It takes courage … it doesn’t mean you’re not going to be afraid,” he mentioned. “You have to have the courage to match the fear of the moment, and I’ve seen Brad have that time and time again.”
Williams highlighted Lander’s historical past of direct-action protest, particularly at 26 Federal Plaza.
“Whatever privilege we have, it is our duty to use that privilege to protect others who don’t have it,” he mentioned, urging attendees to assist not solely the marketing campaign however “the people who need your assistance” in immigrant-protection efforts throughout town.
Public Advocate Jumaane Williams Photograph by Lloyd Mitchell
Different day-one endorsers to the marketing campaign included Vermont Senator Bernie Sanders, Massachusetts Senator Elizabeth Warren, and Mayor-elect Zohran Mamdani.
Mamdani was featured closely within the rolling slideshow on the occasion, however didn’t make an look on Wednesday night time.
By Wednesday afternoon, Democratic Socialists of America (DSA)-backed Councilmember Alexa Avilés and former Meeting Member Yuh-Line Niou — each of whom had been contemplating a run in opposition to Goldman themselves — introduced they’d not enter the race, eradicating two potential rivals from Lander’s left.
Mamdani advised reporters on Thursday morning that the DSA was nonetheless his political dwelling regardless of choosing Lander within the NY-10 race, and rallying in opposition to Brooklyn Councilmember Chi Ossé’s now defunct bid to problem Home Minority Chief Hakeem Jeffries.
Lander attracts contrasts with Goldman on Trump, overseas coverage, and urgency
All through his deal with, Lander prompt Goldman is simply too cautious within the face of Trump’s second-term actions. “People are hungry for leaders who recognize what time it is,” he mentioned. “This is not a time for leaders who think Donald Trump is just a passing phase and we can continue to lead by introducing bills or with strongly worded letters.”
On overseas coverage, Lander once more criticized U.S. assist for Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s navy marketing campaign in Gaza.
Whereas each he and Goldman agree Hamas dedicated a conflict crime on Oct. 7, Lander mentioned, “only one of the two of us recognizes that Netanyahu’s leveling of schools and hospitals and the destruction of Gaza was a war crime.”
He framed the race as a selection between candidates who “believe everyone’s lives are equal” and people aligned with “pro-Israel lobbying groups, like AIPAC.”
Lander repeatedly linked his congressional bid to hyperlocal organizing, tenant protections, rezonings, college desegregation efforts, and storm-response mutual help, invoking such moments as proof of what this group does when it fights again.
“Empathy is a superpower,” he mentioned. “When people come together in moments of crisis, they become capable of things they didn’t expect were possible.”
Supporters of former Metropolis Comtroller Brad Lander carry indicators earlier than Lander broadcasts his run for the tenth district seat in congress going through Dan Goldman.Photograph by Lloyd Mitchell
He pledged that volunteers for his marketing campaign can be requested to separate their time between marketing campaign work and group protection efforts: “For every shift you spend knocking doors, we’ll ask for one shift protecting neighbors from ICE on our streets or at 26 Federal Plaza.”
Regardless of Goldman’s massive fundraising benefit, Lander’s workforce reported greater than 2,000 donors on launch day. “Maybe we’ll get past 3,000 today,” he advised the gang. “We’re not going to have the resources to match the other guy… but what we’re going to have more of is people.”
Lander praised their selections, saying, “I’m excited to be the candidate that can bring progressives together to win this race,” although he didn’t say whether or not he had spoken to them earlier than launching his bid.
Closing his speech, Lander returned to his advert’s framing: “People want somebody with compassion and empathy, but they also want elected officials with the steel spine necessary to stand up to ICE and to Trump… and with the strategic discipline to build a broad coalition that can actually defeat fascism in the coming elections.”
