In her campaign announcement, Sawant called Democratic incumbent Rep. Adam Smith a “warmongering incumbent” with “blood all over his hands,” accusing him of having “fully backed the genocide in Gaza.” Smith is the ranking Democrat on the House Armed Services Committee, who has a strong record of supporting US-Israel ties and combating antisemitism.
The anti-police challenger pledged to use her campaign to build the “antiwar movement.”
As part of her announcement, Sawant featured Rizwan Samad, a prominent member of her campaign team, who was charged for blocking Interstate 5 during a pro-Hamas rally in 2024 and has an endless stream of antisemitic statements on social media, including Holocaust denial, conspiracy theories, and dehumanizing rhetoric. Among Samad's archived tweets are:
- “95% of the Israelis are not Semite, and there were no 6 million Jews killed in the Holocaust.”
- “Zionist wants to control your life in America and around the world.”
- “All Israelis are pigs and animals.”
- “Hitler was an angel compared to Netanyahu.”
These posts fit the International Holocaust Remembrance Alliance’s (IHRA) working definition of antisemitism which has been adopted by the US State Department.
During her campaign kickoff event, Sawant was publicly confronted about her association with Samad, which she dismissed as part of the “right wing agenda.” She also claimed that attacks on Jews on college campuses was a claim "being kept on life support by the right wing media."
During the presser, Sawant and many of her supporters were wearing keffiyehs in support of Hamas. Sawant was asked if she would call Hamas a terror group. When she refused, she quickly ended the press conference.
Shortly after the Oct 7, 2023 Palestinian terrorist attacks that killed over 1,200, kidnapped over 250 and inured thousands more, Sawant, draped in a Hamas keffiyeh, called a press conference to demand a ceasefire in Gaza even though the IDF had not yet entered the area.
Last year, Sawant was spotted at a pro-Hamas rally in Chicago. Sawant’s record on Israel includes her long-standing support for the Boycott, Divestment, and Sanctions (BDS) movement, as well as repeated false accusations that Israel commits genocide and apartheid.
In 2021, she authored a Seattle City Council resolution condemning Israel for “war crimes” in Gaza — a resolution that omitted any reference to Hamas or its attacks on Israeli civilians. The resolution was condemned by the ADL and multiple Jewish organizations.
Sawant’s policies have been a disaster for Seattle and the US. Her $15 minimum wage closed businesses and led to less work for hourly employees. The failed policy was copied in Democratic strongholds around the US, most notably in California, leading to the closure of hundreds of restaurants and businesses.
While on the city council, Sawant helped advocate for and pass the so called “Amazon Tax,” which taxes payrolls and led to the tech giant fleeing the Emerald City and Seattle losing tax revenue, causing a massive gap in the city’s budget.
Sawant was also a fixture in the 2020 deadly autonomous zone and led the activists in occupying Seattle City Hall during the George Floyd riots that rocked the Emerald City. She was able to narrowly defeat a recall effort in her final year on the council.
Earlier this year, the Indian government denied her visa request to return home, citing national security concerns and her outspoken anti-India activism.
