McCormick meets with Jewish community amid investments in website spewing antisemitism
PITTSBURGH (KDKA) -- The race for Pennsylvania's U.S. Senate seat is heating up, with a focus on the war in Israel and antisemitism, specifically the actions taken by one candidate involving an extremist social media platform.
Seven weeks before the election, Pennsylvania Senate Republican candidate Dave McCormick talked about the issues impacting the Jewish community on Monday morning.
"We need to condemn antisemitism," McCormick said.
He met with some Pittsburgh Jews at Bunny Bakes in Squirrel Hill. McCormick said he's the one who has a clear stance on these topics.
"I have been on the issue of antisemitism and Israel, a uniquely strong voice with complete moral clarity," McCormick told KDKA-TV.
However, financial disclosures from the Federal Election Commission reveal McCormick has invested up to $5 million in the social media platform Rumble and has made at least $100,000 on his investment. According to the Anti-Defamation League, Rumble users are known to spew "violent and conspiratorial content," including Holocaust denial, far-right extremism, and antisemitic hate speech.
McCormick acknowledged his involvement with the website.
"I did invest in that," McCormick told KDKA-TV. "Social media platforms have people saying things that you don't agree with, so if you're an investor in Twitter, are you responsible for all the things that are said on Twitter? That's the same with this platform."
He would not say whether he would pull his investments.
"I'm not going to talk about my specific investments," McCormick told KDKA-TV.
In response, a spokesperson for his opponent, incumbent Democratic Senator Bob Casey provided KDKA-TV with the following statement:
"Senator Casey has been a leader in the Senate both supporting Israel and fighting back against antisemitism, including serving as the lead cosponsor of the Antisemitism Awareness Act. That's why America's leading pro-Israel organizations have endorsed him. David McCormick invested millions in a social media platform that hosts videos about Holocaust denial…"