Lew Fidler and David Storobin are running for the State Senate seat vacated by Carl Kruger, who pleaded guilty to corruption. The election is on March 20. While both are Jewish, Fidler, a Democrat, accused Storobin, a Repubican of "ties" (later changed to "links") to neo-Nazis.
Later at a press conference in Brooklyn, where he was endorsed by Senator Chuck Schumer, Fidler, a Democratic city councilman, tried to explain his comments. "I never, ever, ever did or would have called David Storobin a neo-Nazi," said the 56-year-old Democrat. He explained that he is "not so Internet-savvy," and he should have used the word "links" instead of "ties."
"I have never once raised this in public," said Fidler, when asked about the issue after the endorsement. "He [Storobin] continues to raise it in public, call himself insulted and ask for an apology."
Substantively, Fidler said that if he, like Storobin, interviewed a white separatist "not once, but twice," that "people would know that I had found the views of a white separatist to be so repugnant that it wouldn't be linked on Stormfront."
Politicker's Colin Campbell challenged Fidler's assertion that he wasn't raising the issue publicly, noting his campaign sent out a press release about it.
"It was a response to a press conference that he held," Fidler said. "He's responding to comments I had made to a group of young Democrats at a rally at a bar, alright, where I thought we were in a private room, and the term I used" was inaccurate.
Fidler's campaign has accused Storobin of hiding behind the issue to avoid talking about more substantive matters, like access to affordable housing and tuition tax credits.
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