By New York Post (Politics) | Created at 2025-03-22 13:49:24 | Updated at 2025-03-23 10:47:37
21 hours ago
Socialist mayoral candidate Brad Lander’s campaign has accepted thousands of dollars from billionaire Democratic donor George Soros, despite trying to distance himself from the radical left.
Soros — whose networks of woke non-profits push an anti-Israel, anti-cop agenda — personally donated $2,100 to Lander, the city comptroller, in June, according to campaign finance records. Lander is so far the only mayoral candidate to whom Soros donated.
“Lander is perfect for the Soros gang,” said political strategist Hank Sheinkopf. “He was a public supporter of boycott, divestment sanctions of Israel, and has been a member of the Democratic Socialists of America,” Sheinkopf noted.
But in past few months Lander has backpedaled on far-left policies, unveiling a plan last month to hire more cops and crack down on gun violence.
Despite the backtracking, Sheinkopf suggested Lander must “go back to being who he really is in order to get the money to become mayor.”
Soros previously donated to Lander’s 2021 comptroller run — $5,000 but was given back $2,000 — and his sons Alexander and Jonathan and daughter-in-law Jennifer did as well, giving $5,100, $250 and $500, respectively.
Early in this election cycle, Jonathan and Jennifer Soros gave to state Rep. Zellnor Myrie’s mayoral campaign, and Jennifer later gave to state Sen. Jessica Ramos’ as well.
Lander, who has been criticized for his response to Hamas’ terrorist attacks and skyrocketing antisemitism, is accused of divesting city pension funds from Israeli bonds for political reasons, which his campaign denied.
He previously took a donation from a radical anti-Israel Columbia University professor Katherine Franke, and has not returned it, according to campaign finance records.
Soros and his hard-left acolytes helped fund the radical anti-Israel protests at colleges across the country following the Oct. 7, 2023 attacks.
And Soros has helped launch soft-on-crime district attorneys including Alvin Bragg to power, and leaders from his Open Society Foundations had easy access to the former Biden White House.
A recent poll found Lander could nab as much as 31% of the vote in the Democratic primary, just behind frontrunner former Gov. Andrew Cuomo and ahead of state Assemblyman Zohran Mamdani.
“Brad Lander will take money from special interests like George Soros while pretending to be a grassroots candidate — he’s a phony who’s always been bought and paid for,” Queens Councilman Robert Holden told The Post.
Lander currently leads all mayoral candidates with a war chest of about $6.7 million.
Lander and a spokesperson for Soros did not respond to inquiries from The Post.
