A woman who was elected on Tuesday to a leadership position in the influential Brooklyn Democratic Party has apologized for a social media post from last year that amplified antisemitic comments and conspiracy theories.
Carmella Charrington, whose candidacy was supported by democratic socialist lawmakers, recirculated a video that highlighted a series of pamphlets in a newspaper owned by Henry Ford, the industrialist who founded Ford Motor Company, that later became a book in the 1920s. The book highlighted well-worn conspiracy theories that Jews controlled business and the media, and it blamed them for many of the country’s problems.
“The only way to change is understanding the truth!” Ms. Charrington wrote in her post, which was first reported by Jewish Insider.
Reached by telephone on Friday, Ms. Charrington said she was not antisemitic and did not intend to amplify the antisemitic sentiments and conspiracy theories espoused by the book or the narrator of the video. She has since deleted the post.
“A few months ago, I reshared an antisemitic post,” Ms. Charrington said in a written statement to The New York Times. “I have learned that the book talked about in this video is a piece of white supremacist literature. It has been used for over a century to blame Jews for systemic issues and to turn people against Black folks, immigrants and the L.G.B.T. community. It was a mistake to repost the video and I apologize.”
Mr. Ford’s paper, The Dearborn Independent, published a series of front-page articles in the early 1920s by its editor, William Cameron, titled “The International Jew.” The articles promoted Mr. Ford’s antisemitic beliefs that Jews had financed World War I and controlled business, the media and politics.
The articles were turned into a four-volume series titled “The International Jew — The World’s Foremost Problem.” Mr. Ford sold the paper in 1927 and issued an apology to Jewish people.
The deletion of Ms. Charrington’s post comes as tensions between some members of the city’s Jewish population and newly elected, D.S.A.-backed politicians have boiled over. The D.S.A. candidates who won primaries on Tuesday have been critical of Israel and supportive of Palestinian rights.
New York City is home to the largest Jewish population outside of Israel, and the city’s Democratic Party was staunchly supportive of Israel for decades, until Israel’s war in Gaza changed that political calculus. Some Jewish leaders have pushed back, accusing Mayor Zohran Mamdani and other D.S.A. members of promoting criticism of Israel that feels to them like bigotry and antisemitism.
Jabari Brisport and Eon Huntley, two D.S.A. members who won re-election and election to the State Senate and Assembly on Tuesday, supported Ms. Charrington’s campaign. Both men said in a statement that the post she shared “has no place in our movement” and vowed to fight antisemitism.
“We don’t support conspiracy theories,” Mr. Huntley said in an interview.
Ms. Charrington was one of nearly two dozen district leaders elected on Tuesday who were supported by New Kings Democrats, a left-leaning branch of the Brooklyn Democratic Party. District leaders serve as a liaison between the party and the community and help to select judicial nominees.
Assemblywoman Rodneyse Bichotte Hermelyn, the chairwoman of the Brooklyn Democratic Party, expressed concern about the future of her party — one of the largest county parties in the country — because of the growing internal rift on issues like Israel.
“There is a concern that there’s going to be a crazy internal war if the focus is on international politics and religious differences,” she said. “There is reason to be concerned about extremists from every side.”
Lincoln Restler, a councilman from Brooklyn who is Jewish and was a founder of New Kings Democrats, disputed that notion. He said Ms. Charrington’s statements were “deeply offensive” and did not reflect the push to reform the county party, which has a history of corruption.
“There are folks on the left and the right who are anti-Semites and it’s our obligation to call out hateful and discriminatory language whenever we hear it,” Mr. Restler said. “It’s harmful and an apology is just a start.”
Ms. Charrington had gained recent notice after Chi Ossé, a councilman from Brooklyn who is a member of the D.S.A., was arrested outside of her home trying to prevent her eviction. Ms. Charrington has asserted that she and her family are victims of deed theft.
In her statement to The Times, she said she hoped to “represent everyone in her district” when her term begins.
“I will start a dialogue with my Jewish neighbors,” Ms. Charrington said, “so we can work together to stop deed theft and all injustices and build a thriving community.”
Kirsten Noyes contributed research.