- Tasked with leading Democrats in their fight to keep the House, DCCC chair Maloney must now focus on his own NY race against Republican Mike Lawler
- 'You will have an open door to my administration,' Biden reportedly promised Rabbi David Twersky in a 15-minute phone call
- Political strategist Hank Sheinkopf said Twersky is revered by Hasidic Jews in New Square and they will heed his advice and vote for Maloney if he tells them to
- The phone call suggests Democrats are worried about Maloney's race which has recently been rated a 'toss-up'
President Biden called a prominent New York rabbi and offered him unfettered access to the White House in exchange for throwing his support behind Rep. Sean Patrick Maloney, chair of the Democrat's campaign arm who is locked in a tight race.
Tasked with leading Democrats in their fight to keep the House, Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee (DCCC) chair and New York Rep. Maloney must now focus on his own race against Republican assemblyman Mike Lawler on Nov. 8. It has turned into a 'toss-up' race, despite Biden carrying the district by 10 points.
'You will have an open door to my administration,' Biden promised Rabbi David Twersky in a 15-minute phone call, according to Rockland Daily. Jewish Forward reporter Jacob Kornbluh confirmed the call.
Twersky is the chief rabbi for the Hasidic sect in New Square, N.Y. in the 17th Congressional District.
The phone call came before First Lady Jill Biden heads to Mount Kisko, N.Y. on Sunday for a political finance event with Maloney.
New York-based political strategist Hank Sheinkopf said Twersky is revered by Hasidic Jews in New Square and they will heed his advice and vote for Maloney if he tells them to do so.
Sheinkopf also said the call signals trouble for Maloney.
'You don't have the President of the United States call someone for support unless you're in trouble in a political campaign,' he told the New York Post. 'If you're up by 10 points, you don't ask the president for help.'
'For all his fake bravado, Sean Patrick Maloney sure is behaving like a very scared man,' National Republican Congressional Campaign (NRCC) spokesperson Samantha Bullock told DailyMail.com. 'Maloney's fellow vulnerable Democrats are probably less than thrilled their DCCC chair is using whatever political capital he has left to try and save himself.'
Maloney's campaign could not be reached for comment on the matter.
Earlier this month Biden stumped for Democrats in Poughkeepsie, where he was joined by Maloney and New York Gov. Kathy Hochul. Hochul is facing an increasingly competitive challenge from GOP Rep. Lee Zeldin.
On Sunday Hochul met with ultra-religious Jewish leaders in Rockland County as she fights for the orthodox Jewish vote against Zeldin, who is Jewish.
Jewish groups hailed Maloney's win over progressive challenger Alessandra Biaggi in August's primary, as Biaggi had expressed support for the boycott, divest and sanctions (BDS) movement against Israel.
Meanwhile, Republicans are pouring in funds to defeat the Democrat Party leader. The Congressional Leadership Fund, a super PAC aligned with House Republican Leadership, has dumped $6 million into the race, including $4 million announced just last week.
They're shifting the focus back to crime, with ads highlighting Maloney's 2018 comments calling ending cash bail reform a 'top priority.'
The race for the newly drawn district comes after a messy redistricting process that split the DCCC chair's district in two. Instead of running in the current version of his district, he ran in the more Democratic-leaning new district where his house is located, pushing out progressive Rep. Mondaire Jones. Jones subsequently ran in a New York City district's primary and lost. Maloney's handling of the process drew sharp intra-party criticism.
Complaints also arose across the nation about Maloney over the DCCC's choice to elevate far-right candidates in Republican primaries who they believed they would have an easier time beating in general elections.
New GOP funding for Lawler led the DCCC to put up a $600,000 buy in TV ads, with some other vulnerable Democrats voicing frustration that the party has had to dip into its coffers to save its chairs rather than focusing on helping others who are under water.
Maloney also prompted questions when he paid his and his husband's personal trainer over $7,000 from campaign and taxpayer funds, as DailyMail.com first reported. A Maloney spokesperson said the trainer, Erick Ramos, was paid as a part-time driver for the congressman.
Maloney's staffing choices have raised eyebrows as to whether he used campaign funds for personal use before. In July the New York Post reported on Harold Leath, Maloney's former 'body man' or as Maloney's office calls it, 'executive assistant.'
'I was pretty much with the congressman everywhere he went within the district — if he went to a meeting, if he went out running. I would drive him everywhere he needed to go,' he told The Post.
'When I first started, my main responsibility was to make sure the congressman and his family never needed anything,' Leath recalled. 'I was to be there.'
'Everything I got paid for was either for his campaign, in the beginning, or doing something for him.'
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