Texas congressional candidate claims she never called for ‘internment camps’ after party leaders condemn her

A Texas Democratic congressional candidate who pledged to convert an immigration detention center near San Antonio “into a prison for American Zionists” clarified her position Thursday following sharp criticism from members of her own party.

Maureen Galindo, who is running for a House seat in the newly redrawn 35th Congressional District, posted a video on Facebook days after criticizing wealthy supporters of Israel. She claimed that following her initial remarks, she received hundreds of “death threats” and other “vile” messages.

“I never said I want Jews in internment camps,” Galindo said. “I said I want to close all ICE detention centers and put billionaire American Zionists who are funding the genocidal prison systems involved in trafficking into prison.”

“If they committed a crime, do they not belong in prison?” she added.

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“I’m against all internment camps and would like to see them all shut down ASAP, starting with the many in South Texas,” Galindo said, referring to U.S. Immigration and Custom Enforcement (ICE) detention facilities.

Galindo accused the Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee (DCCC) of coordinating statements against her in an effort to back her primary runoff opponent, Johnny Garcia, a former hostage negotiator and public information officer for the Bexar County Sheriff’s Office. She also accused a local journalist, whom she claimed “literally wants me dead,” of fabricating the “internment camps” comment.

The backlash began when Galindo stated in an Instagram post earlier this month that she would turn the “Karnes ICE Detention Center into a prison for American Zionists and former ICE officers for human trafficking.”

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“It will also be a castration processing center for pedophiles, which will probably be most of the Zionists,” Galindo wrote.

In other social media posts, Galindo, a family therapist and housing advocate, accused Garcia of wanting “Jews and Mexicans in warehouses.” She also accused “billionaire Zionists” of controlling trafficking networks in San Antonio and South Texas.

The condemnation was swift. Notable Democrats have distanced themselves from her, including Texas State Representative James Talarico, U.S. Rep. Jared Moskowitz, D-Fla., and Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, D-N.Y.

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Additionally, House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries and DCCC Chair Suzan DelBene issued a joint statement calling her rhetoric “vile” and “disqualifying.”

Earlier this month, the DCCC accused “Washington Republicans” of secretly contributing to Galindo’s campaign through dark money spending.

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Galindo and Garcia, who has been endorsed by the DCCC, are set to face off in a runoff election next week. In their first matchup, Galindo had a narrow lead over Garcia, 29% to 27%, though neither candidate came close to clearing the 50% threshold required to win the nomination.

Fox News Digital has reached out to the DCCC.

Fox News Digital’s Peter Pinedo contributed to this report.