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Texas Sex Therapist Turned Congressional Contender Ignites Firestorm With Calls to Jail and Castrate Pro-Israel Americans
By: Fern Sidman
The Democratic Party has found itself scrambling to contain a rapidly escalating political firestorm after Maureen Galindo, a congressional candidate in Texas’s 35th District, ignited nationwide condemnation over a series of inflammatory social media statements that included threats against Americans who support Israel, grotesque antisemitic rhetoric, and references to internment and forced castration.
As reported on Wednesday in The Algemeiner, Galindo’s comments triggered an immediate and unusually forceful backlash not only from Republicans and Jewish advocacy organizations, but from leading Democrats across the ideological spectrum, many of whom characterized her rhetoric as overtly antisemitic, conspiratorial, and fundamentally incompatible with public office.
The controversy erupted after an Instagram post published on Galindo’s campaign account last weekend circulated widely online. In the post, Galindo appeared to advocate punitive governmental action against Zionists and supporters of Israel while employing rhetoric critics described as indistinguishable from classic antisemitic propaganda historically associated with extremist movements on both the far right and far left.
“When Maureen gets into Congress, she’ll write legislation so that all Zionism and support of Zionism is undoubtedly Anti-Semitic, since it’s Zionists harming the Semites,” the post declared, according to The Algemeiner report.
The message escalated even further, proposing the transformation of the Karnes ICE detention facility into what the post described as “a prison for American Zionists and former ICE officers for human trafficking.”
Most explosively, the post added: “It will also be a castration processing center for pedophiles which will probably be most of the Zionists.”
The remarks immediately detonated across the national political landscape, generating bipartisan outrage and prompting senior Democratic leaders to move aggressively to distance the party from Galindo’s candidacy before the upcoming Democratic primary runoff scheduled for May 26.
The controversy has become particularly acute because Galindo finished first in the initial round of voting, placing her within striking distance of advancing further in the congressional race.
The candidate’s social media rhetoric did not stop at threats against Zionists. According to the information provided in The Algemeiner report, the Instagram post also accused Galindo’s Democratic runoff opponent, Johnny Garcia — the public information officer for Bexar County Sheriff Javier Salazar — of allegedly wanting “Jews and Mexicans in warehouses.”
The post further alleged that “the billionaire Zionists that control San Antonio and South Texas trafficking networks have coordinated a blitz campaign to propagate the conspiracy that anti-Zionist Maureen Galindo wants Jews in warehouses.”
The language employed in the posts drew immediate comparisons to longstanding antisemitic conspiracy theories alleging secret Jewish control over governments, media, finance, and political institutions.
The account further attempted to distinguish between what it termed “real Jews” and “fake Jews,” another rhetorical trope historically associated with extremist antisemitic movements.
“She would never blame ALL Jews for THE Jews (the Zionists) who have committed genocide on the indigenous Jews (the Semites) of the Middle East,” the post stated. “Real Jews are VICTIMS of the Fake Jews (the Zionists).”
According to the information contained in The Algemeiner report, Galindo has previously circulated additional conspiracy theories alleging Jewish control of Hollywood and referring to Jewish worship through references to a so-called “synagogue of Satan,” language historically utilized by neo-Nazi groups and extremist ideological movements.
The intensity and extremity of the remarks appeared to stun even many progressive Democrats who have often been critical of Israeli government policies but nevertheless regarded Galindo’s rhetoric as crossing unmistakable moral and political boundaries.
House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries and Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee Chairwoman Suzan DelBene issued a sharply worded joint statement condemning the remarks while simultaneously accusing Republicans of amplifying Galindo’s candidacy for political advantage.
“House Republican leadership must immediately cease propping up this antisemitic candidacy, pull spending in the race, and forcefully condemn these comments,” Jeffries and DelBene declared.
“This vile language by her is disqualifying and has no place in American politics, and certainly not in the Democratic Party,” they added.
The Democratic leadership’s attempt to redirect scrutiny toward Republican involvement reflects growing speculation surrounding Galindo’s campaign financing.
According to Democrats cited in The Algemeiner report, much of Galindo’s recent financial support appears linked to a mysterious organization called “Lead Left,” which emerged only recently but rapidly began funneling resources into the race.
Researchers reportedly identified metadata connections between Lead Left’s online infrastructure and WinRed, a major Republican fundraising platform, fueling Democratic accusations that Republican operatives may be attempting to elevate Galindo as a politically damaging figurehead.
Whether those allegations are substantiated or not, the controversy has rapidly transformed the Texas congressional contest into a national political embarrassment for Democrats already struggling to navigate tensions surrounding antisemitism and anti-Israel activism within segments of the party’s activist base.
Several prominent Jewish Democratic lawmakers reacted with visible alarm.
Representatives Josh Gottheimer of New Jersey and Jared Moskowitz of Florida issued one of the most aggressive responses yet, warning that they would move repeatedly to expel Galindo from Congress should she somehow prevail in the general election.
“If for some reason, Maureen Galindo wins the congressional election in TX-35, as soon as she is sworn in, we will force a vote to expel her every single day we are here,” the lawmakers stated on X.
“Maureen’s insane, antisemitic views — including putting Americans in concentration camps — have no place in our party or country,” they added.
The reference to concentration camps reflected growing alarm over the increasingly explicit authoritarian undertones embedded within Galindo’s rhetoric.
Texas Democratic Senate nominee James Talarico also publicly distanced himself from the congressional candidate, announcing he would refuse to campaign alongside her.
“This antisemitic rhetoric has no place in our politics,” Talarico told the Jewish Telegraphic Agency.
“We need leadership in both parties willing to stand up and call out hate wherever it rears its ugly head,” he added.
Even Representative Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, a figure frequently associated with progressive criticism of Israel, unequivocally condemned Galindo’s remarks.
“This bigoted garbage and antisemitism should be nowhere near our politics,” Ocasio-Cortez wrote on X. “If you’re in TX-35, vote for @johnnygarciatx. And the donors behind the Republican super PAC funding her should be exposed.”
The breadth of the condemnation reflected the extent to which Galindo’s rhetoric appears to have shattered traditional partisan fault lines regarding debates over Israel and Zionism.
Yet Galindo herself has remained defiant.
In text exchanges with the Texas Tribune cited in The Algemeiner report, the candidate rejected accusations of antisemitism and insisted critics were deliberately distorting her statements.
She claimed media reports had been “miswording my proposal to sound anti-Jew.”
At the same time, however, Galindo escalated her rhetoric further by asserting that “all politicians who have taken Israeli money should be tried for treason for aiding a foreign national with materials to harm Americans.”
When asked how she felt about Democrats condemning her, Galindo responded dismissively.
“I don’t care what any Zionist-owned politician thinks,” she stated. “They’re exposing themselves as Zionists which will backfire on them.”
Critics argue that such language merely reinforces the very accusations of antisemitic conspiracy thinking leveled against her campaign.
The controversy has also drawn national attention to Galindo’s unusual professional background and online presence.
According to The Algemeiner and additional reporting cited from the Daily Mail, Galindo operates a business called “Exulted Sex Therapy,” which offers counseling and wellness services centered around sexuality and spirituality.
The business advertises sessions priced at $200 per hour for individuals and $250 for couples.
On her website, Galindo describes offering a “judgement-free and systemic approach to sex and wellness” through which clients can navigate “anatomy & physiology, thoughts & emotions, and heart & spirit.”
The site further states that clients may “discover the keys that unlock your most authentic pleasures.”
Galindo also reportedly encourages clients to “inquire about including an astrology report.”
Before launching her current enterprise, she operated another business called “Cosmic Kinks Tarot” in Bexar County, where she offered what were described as “kinky birth chart readings” and “live Tarot therapy.”
According to The Algemeiner report, Galindo described her mission as empowering people “through the exploration of their sexuality, spirituality, and the stars.”
While her unconventional business background has attracted public fascination, political observers argue the far more consequential issue involves the normalization of extremist rhetoric within segments of American political discourse.
Jewish advocacy organizations and civil rights groups have increasingly warned that anti-Zionist rhetoric has, in some cases, evolved beyond criticism of Israeli policies into explicit demonization of Jews and open conspiratorial antisemitism.
The Galindo controversy appears to many observers to represent precisely that transformation.
The language attributed to her campaign — including references to internment camps, forced castration, Jewish conspiracies, and distinctions between “real” and “fake” Jews — echoes some of the darkest rhetorical traditions in modern political extremism.
As The Algemeiner has documented repeatedly in recent years, antisemitic incidents and rhetoric have risen sharply across the United States following the Hamas attacks against Israel on Oct. 7, 2023, with political discourse increasingly becoming a battleground over the boundaries between legitimate criticism of Israel and overt antisemitism.
For Democrats, the Galindo controversy now presents an especially delicate political challenge.
Party leaders are seeking simultaneously to condemn antisemitism forcefully while countering Republican accusations that anti-Israel extremism has gained influence within progressive political movements.
Whether Galindo’s candidacy ultimately collapses under the weight of the backlash remains uncertain.
What is already clear, however, is that the controversy has become one of the most explosive examples yet of how antisemitic rhetoric and conspiracy theories continue infiltrating mainstream political spaces in the United States.
And for many Jewish Americans watching the episode unfold, the most unsettling aspect may not simply be the existence of such rhetoric — but the fact that it emerged from a candidate seeking election to the United States Congress under the banner of one of the nation’s two major political parties.
