Photo by Gage Skidmore/Flickr
Audio By Carbonatix
South Florida’s favorite Islamophobe and far-right social media troll Laura Loomer apparently helped convince a Jewish-owned venue in Fort Lauderdale to cancel a Democrat event set for Friday over claims of antisemitism.
Progressive advocacy group Gen-Z for Change and the Florida Youth Justice Coalition planned a voter rally dubbed “Chomp the oligarchy” at 8 p.m. on Friday at The Venue in Fort Lauderdale for candidates in Florida’s upcoming midterm elections, with a special appearance by Palestinian American Rep. Rashida Tlaib, a practicing Muslim. But following complaints from Loomer that the event was designed specifically to support the ousting of Democratic Jewish incumbents Jared Moskowitz and Debbie Wasserman Schultz, The Venue threatened to back out if event planners didn’t remove Tlaib, the first Palestinian American woman to serve in congress, from the lineup.
A flier about the event posted on social media indicates Democrat hopefuls, including Oliver Larkin (a Democratic socialist running for Florida’s 25th District), Angie Nixon (a Florida Rep. running for Senate), and Elijah Manley (running for Florida’s District 20) are scheduled to make an appearance.
But at the last minute, Gen-Z for Change was forced to find a new venue.
Gen-Z for Change officials issued a statement on Facebook after The Venue cancelled on them last-minute, accusing Venue operators of threatening to cancel the event if officials didn’t remove Tlaib (whom the House of Representatives voted to censure in 2023 relating to “antisemitic statements and anti-Israel remarks, according to the resolution).
“After we refused to capitulate, The Venue notified us that they were backing out from providing the space that was already paid for, in brazen violation of their contractual obligations,” according to the statement.
Manley, who didn’t respond to New Times’ request for comment before publication, took to Facebook to accuse Democratic Florida Rep. Michael Gottlieb of teaming up with Loomer to attack the event.
Gottlieb wrote a long post on Facebook denouncing the event as an “Anti-Israel and Anti-Zionism coalition of candidates, make no mistake this is anti-Jew. This is a coalition of candidates and organizations who are on the strongly pro-Palestinian/anti-Israel left, several of whom have been involved in disputes over where anti-Zionism crosses into antisemitism. Tlaib has by far the deepest record of antisemitic allegations and is being brought here to help these candidates raise funds for their campaigns.”
His full comments can be read here.
Loomer bashed the event on X, writing after the venue change, “The pure ignorance on display is staggering. These DSA (Democratic Socialists of America) candidates chose one of the most Jewish towns in America as the stage for their anti-Jewish harassment campaign, and then they booked their event at a venue literally owned by Orthodox Jews and named ‘The Venue.’ Once the venue owners (Jews) learned the true purpose of the gathering, they canceled it immediately and released a statement confirming they would not host an event designed to target and intimidate Jewish Floridians.”
According to a statement from The Venue on Facebook, “Venue Fort Lauderdale wishes to address concerns regarding an event that had been scheduled to take place at our facility Friday Aug. 14. This event has been cancelled and will not be taking place at The Venue Fort Lauderdale. Once we became aware of the full scope and nature of the event and reviewed the publicly circulated promotional materials, we immediately began addressing the matter.
“Due to the increased security concerns as well as the welfare of attendees and staff, the decision was then made that the event would not proceed at our property. The Venue Fort Lauderdale is Jewish-owned and operated and our values and commitment to the Jewish community are deeply important to us. We want to be unequivocally clear that the acceptance of a venue booking should never be interpreted as an endorsement of the political views, organizations, speakers, messaging, or causes associated with an event. We are reviewing our booking and vetting procedures to help ensure that the nature, sponsors, speakers, organizations and purpose of future events are fully disclosed and vetted before a booking is accepted.”
The Venue didn’t respond to New Times’ request for further comment.
