Metro

Democratic Socialist candidate under fire for allegedly lying about her past

A state Senate candidate in Brooklyn vying to unseat an eight-term incumbent by riding the coattails of Democratic Socialist superstar Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez has come under fire for allegedly embellishing stories about her past.

Julia Salazar’s campaign to defeat Sen. Martin Dilan in Sept. 13 Democratic primary has been filled with falsities and contradictions, including claims of a being a Colombian-born “proud immigrant” of an economically distressed, working-class family.

In reality, the 27-year-old insurgent progressive is a US-born. former anti-abortion Republican who grew up in a middle class-household in Florida, according to records and various media reports.

Her mother and brother were also both born and raised in the United States. while father was born in Colombia but was a naturalized citizen before Salazar was ever born.





While Salazar claims she was raised in her early years in both Colombia and Florida, her brother, Alex, gave a different story to City & State. He told the political media outlet the family only made a few brief trips to Colombia.

Salazar has also been criticized by various Jewish media outlets for identifying herself as a Jew via blood on her father’s side. The Tablet last also reported that Salazar once even claimed Jewish ancestry on her mother’s side.

However, Alex told The Tablet last week that “nobody in our immediate family” is Jewish – including their parents. Meanwhile, the mother, Christine Salazar, has said Julia was baptized a Catholic.

“Julia Salazar was a Florida Republican until she parachuted into Bushwick last year to run,” said Bob Liff, a spokesman for Dilan’s campaign. “…Voters don’t judge candidates on whether they are immigrants — or even any of the other misrepresentations and outright lies she has claimed as part of her background — but they do care about the truth.”





Salazar did not directly respond to questions about why she claimed to be an immigrant, except saying “my earliest memories are of the time I spent with my family in Colombia.”

When asked about her political flip-flop, she said, “I was raised in a conservative family, but, like many people, I came to change my mind as I learned more about the world.”

Salazar, like Ocasio-Cortez, who upset veteran Rep. Joe Crowley in the Democratic primary in June, identifies herself, as a democratic socialist.





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