Rep. Ritchie Torres (D-NY) slammed luxury real estate developer Mohamed Hadid — father of models Bella and Gigi, both of whom have made anti-Semitic remarks — for vile messages that he sent the congressman.
The New York Post obtained the messages late last week in which Hadid told Torres in a direct message on Instagram: “You worse than the rats of New York sewage system. They have bigger brains than you. You might get a job as bouncer at gay bar.”
Torres, who is openly gay, left the Progressive Caucus after October 7 because he has been a major supporter of Israel.
“I promise you will never be in congress .. slave to whit[e]s and .. make sure you dress as KKK to hide that ugly gray colored face of yours,” he said. “I know about Bronx.”
“You are just unusual Black and colorful mouth for Israeli and AIPAC and looking for payday of over 500K,” Hadid said in a different message. “You will get it .. unfortunately. We have people like you in congress.. keeping this conversation between us.”
After the New York Post exposed Hadid’s racist messages, he gave a backhanded apology to the congressman, claiming that he was a “shill” for Israel:
I NEED TO APOLOGIZE, NOT FOR THE ANGER I FEEL BUT FOR THE WORDS I USED TO EXPRESS THAT ANGER. I INTENDED TO EXPRESS HOW MR TORRES IS A SHILL BEING USED BY ISRAEL. A STATE THAT NOT ONLY MISTREATS BLACK AND BROWN PEOPLE BUT PINKWASHES THEIR ATROCITIES USING THEIR PROJECTED GAY RIGHTS AS A SHIELD FOR THEIR HUMAN RIGHTS VIOLATIONS. MY FEELING AFTER 76 YEARS OF BEING A REFUGEE FROM THE COUNTRY WHERE I AND MY ANCESTORS WERE BORN AND WATCHING A GENOCIDE UNFOLD ARE AT AN ALL TIME HIGH. I AM WATCHING UNITED STATE POLITICIANS WORK AS AIPAC MESSENGERS OF GENOCIDE. I USED THE WRONG WORDS TO EXPRESS THIS ANGER BUT THE ANGER IS WARRANTED. TO SEND BLACK AND BROWN AND OTHER MARGINALIZED COMMUNITIES TO DO THE DIRTY WORK OF TWO COUNTRIES WHO HAVE NEVER RESPECTED THEM IS WRONG. I APOLOGIZE TO MY COMMUNITY FOR DIRECTING THE CONVERSATION TO THIS. AND EVEN FOR A MINUTE AWAY FROM PALESTINE. ALL EYES ON PALESTINE. FREE PALESTINE.
Torres responded to Hadid’s message on X, posting: “Mohamed Hadid’s so-called ‘apology’ is as fraudulent as the man himself. Hadid has been unmasked as a rabid racist to the core, and his pitiful attempt at a ‘mea culpa’ is fooling no one.”
Mohamed Hadid’s so-called “apology” is as fraudulent as the man himself. Hadid has been unmasked as a rabid racist to the core, and his pitiful attempt at a “mea culpa” is fooling no one. pic.twitter.com/BkREwCJWTz
— Ritchie Torres (@RitchieTorres) April 22, 2024