Orlando Sonza, a Republican running against incumbent Rep. Greg Landsman, previously accepted an endorsement from Kiumars Kiani, a Holocaust denier and antisemite, but renounced the endorsement this week after criticism.
According to JInsider, who broke this story, Sonza’s campaign listed Kiani as an endorsement for over a year.
That included listing Kiani as an endorsement in a post on X, formerly known as Twitter, in July 2023. As of this writing, the tweet appears to have been deleted.
“Orlando Sonza proudly accepting and promoting an endorsement from an extremist, conspiracy theorist, and antisemite is disturbing, but it is not surprising,” Landsman said in a statement.
Kiumurs Kiani’s name was removed from Sonza’s list of endorsements on his campaign website. Sonza’s website previously listed Kiani as a grassroots advocate and community organizer.
Kiani, who refers to himself on social media as “Dr. Q,” claims to be a documentary film producer. According to his IMDB page, he emigrated to the U.S. in 2000 “driven by his passion for activism.” He has only one credit listed, “The Cincinnati Beer Story,” from 2012.
He previously ran for Congress as a write-in candidate in 2016 and 2020.
In 2016, Kiani released a radio ad claiming that Jewish bankers were supporting Hillary Clinton’s campaign by controlling voting machines and the media.
He has made various antisemitic claims on social media in radio ads and on a radio show with his self-described campaign manager, Jim Condit. Including claiming that TV networks were run by “Tamudic Zionist Jews.” Kiani tweeted that Mossad created the Iranian Revolutionary Guard.
“Sonza is a deeply flawed candidate who does not represent – or even live in our very pragmatic congressional district,” said Landsman.
Sonza does not live in the current district he is running in and previously ran for a seat in Ohio’s 9th Congressional District in 2022. According to records from the Hamilton County Board of Elections, Sonza lives in Springfield, a few miles outside of the Ohio 1st District in the 8th Congressional District.
While people can be excused for making mistakes, the problem with Sonza is that he hasn’t issued a formal apology nor has he addressed the failure of his campaign organization that permitted publicity of an antisemitic association for over a year! If Jewish Insider had not exposed this, nothing would have happened.