Facing Pro-Hamas Challenger, Rep. Dan Goldman Rushes To Tell NYT His Wifes 'Pro-Israel' Posts Do Not Speak For Me

The controversy erupted after left-wing activists in his Manhattan district circulated screenshots of social media posts that his wife, Corinne Levy Goldman, had "liked" in the days following Hamass Oct. 7, 2023, massacre in Israel, a slaughter many progressive activists disturbingly hailed as a victory for "anti-colonial resistance," according to The Washington Free Beacon. In a statement to the New York Times, Goldman insisted that his wife does "not speak for me," stressing that, "Like most married couples, my wife and I do not always share the same views, and any tweets she has liked as a private citizen do not speak for me."

The Goldmans were actually in Israel when Hamas terrorists launched their attack, a fact that makes the subsequent uproar over Mrs. Goldmans posts all the more revealing about the modern Democratic base. Her alleged offense was not sympathy for extremists, but rather a series of online gestures that mocked anti-Israel sloganeering and called out Western enablers of jihadist violence.

March 06, 2026

Among the posts Mrs. Goldman endorsed was a viral meme from the popular account @EndWokeness, which ridiculed the slogan "Jews for Palestine" by comparing it to "Chickens for KFC." She also liked posts suggesting that Western activists who chant "Free Palestine" should consider moving to Gaza and living under Hamas rule, as well as a post from the account "God Bless Donald Trump" praising Hoover Institution scholar Victor Davis Hanson for arguing that the United States ought to revoke visas for visitors from places such as Iran and the Palestinian territories if Hamas executed American hostages.

For the activist left, these gestures were intolerable, and they quickly weaponized them to damage Goldman with the partys increasingly radical base. Screenshots of Mrs. Goldmans activity were circulated online and raised at town halls, as critics sought to portray the congressman as insufficiently aligned with the anti-Israel, anti-Western sentiment that has taken root in parts of New York Citys Democratic electorate.

Goldman is facing a serious primary challenge from former New York City comptroller Brad Lander, an outspoken critic of Israel whose rhetoric is more in tune with the street-level protests that have erupted since the Gaza war began. The congressmans district spans portions of Manhattan and Brooklyn, areas where anti-Israel activism has flourished and where hostility toward the Jewish state has become a de facto litmus test for progressive credibility.

Under pressure, Goldman doubled down on his effort to separate his political identity from his wifes unapologetically anti-terrorist views. "As an elected official and public figure, my record, votes and public statements are the only reflection of my beliefs," he told the Times, effectively signaling to the partys hard left that his voting recordnot his wifes common senseshould guide their judgment.

Goldmans predicament places him in a familiar category of public officials whose spouses display more overt patriotism or cultural conservatism than the political class finds comfortable. Supreme Court justice Samuel Alito, for instance, was targeted by liberals after an upside-down American flag was photographed at his Virginia home, a symbol he explained his wife had flown to signal distress during a dispute with a neighbor.

The New York Times later reported on a Revolutionary War-era "Appeal to Heaven" flag flown at Alitos vacation home, though it remains unclear whether his wife selected that banner as well. Alitos willingness to stand by his spouses patriotic instincts ultimately earned him recognition as a Washington Free Beacon Man of the Year, an honor for which Goldmanif he ever chose to defend rather than disown his wifes opposition to terrorismwould now be a leading contender.