U.S. Rep. Greg Landsman (D) and Orlando Sonza (R) sparred over antisemitism and the Israel-Hamas war in a fiery debate on Monday night.
Over 300 people packed into the Mayerson Jewish Community Center auditorium for the debate, which the Jewish Community Relations Council and the American Jewish Committee sponsored. Channel 12’s Kyle Inskeep moderated the debate, which was streamed on the WKRC website and shown on Channel 64.
The two candidates laid into one another over immigration, gun rights, and the economy, and it became heated when antisemitism and the Israel-Hamas war were brought up.
Sonza made several claims, including parroting aspects of the great replacement theory, which has become a Republican talking point this presidential cycle, when he said that Democrats wanted to give illegal immigrants the right to vote.
“It does not help anybody when you advocate for positions, like my opponent, to pay for their health care, for American taxpayer dollars to pay for their housing, for American taxpayer dollars to now give them [illegal immigrants] the right to vote,” said Sonza.
Only citizens of the United States can vote in elections, and there has been little to no evidence of voter fraud over the past several elections.
Sonza and Landsman continued to spar over antisemitism and the Israel-Hamas war.
“This has been a horrible year for a lot of us, the bigotry, the racism, the xenophobia, the islamophobia, and, yes, the antisemitism,” said Landsman, who is Jewish. “My wife and I are living this. Our family is living this. I’ve been called a vile Jew many times over the course of the last year, attacks on us. The security around this event tells you just how dangerous [antisemitism] has become.”
Landsman blasted Sonza over his touting of an endorsement from a holocaust denier, Kiumur Kiani, a Republican organizer who refers to himself as Dr. Q., who is currently a republican precinct executive.
“I woke up one morning to the Jewish Insider, which I read every morning, telling me that there was an Ohio candidate for Congress that had accepted and then promoted the endorsement of Holocaust denier,” Landsman said.
Jinsider revealed in its reporting that Sonza’s campaign had touted Kiani’s endorsement on his campaign website and on X, formerly known as Twitter.
“The very first moment that we found out about such antisemitic rhetoric from a member of my party, I immediately called it out,” Sonza responded.
“The right thing is to do what is right, especially when it’s inconvenient,” Sonza said.
Later, Landmsan challenged Sonza to denounce Kiani and Tucker Carlson, who recently platformed a holocaust denier on his show.
“Then condemn Tucker Carlson for platforming a Holocaust denier. Do it right now. Condemn him,” Landsman said.
Sonza did not condemn Carlson or Kiani on stage. In response, Sonza attempted to claim that Landsman was antisemitic for not calling out U.S. Rep. Ilhan Omar (D-Minn), who said earlier this year that some Jewish students were pro-Genocide. Landsman is one of the 22 democrats who voted to censure Democrat Rashida Tlalib when she called Oct 7, terrorist attack resistance.
Sonza then claimed that Landsman bowed to demands by left wing pro-Palestinian protestors at an Avondale town hall.
“It’s bonkers, absolutely bonkers, that you would suggest, as you did on Twitter, that Joe Biden and I were responsible for Oct. 7. These are people who are trying to kill me and my family,” said Landsman.
The two candidates found little common ground throughout the night, even when discussing the Israel-Hamas War when both candidates spoke about their commitment to Israel’s right to defend itself and the plight of the 101 hostages still held by Hamas.
“This is a conflict between two traumatized, historically traumatized people, Jews and Palestinians, and the ongoing trauma that both are facing is going to end when Hamas is dismantled,” said Landsman.
“The killing in Gaza needs to stop today, but I also know this, there are over 100 hostages still in captivity being held by Hamas,” said Sonza.
Landsman landed a zinger early in the night and said that he and Sonza, who does not live in District 1, had something in common.
“The only thing that we have in common because he lives in another district is that neither one of us will be voting for him,” said Landsman.
