It's an ancient and irrational hate, but in Europe and here in the United States, it sure looks like antisemitism is rearing its ugly head again. As is generally the case, the advance of this lunacy is coming from the political left, and in Denver, Colorado, no less, a Democrat Socialist candidates' primary upset of a long-standing Colorado liberal Congresswoman has the Mile High City's Jewish community worried, and with good reason.
And, in this case, the fish sure seems to be rotting from the head.
Progressive groups celebrated a major victory when 29-year-old Democratic Socialist Melat Kiros ousted 15-term Rep. Diana DeGette in Colorado’s 1st Congressional District in June. But the Democratic primary upset heightened safety concerns among Denver’s Jewish leaders, who warn her sharp rhetoric will fuel antisemitic hostility and violence in their city.
Local Jewish leaders told Fox News Digital that Kiros has left many in the community on edge because of her controversial comments — including describing the Oct. 7 attacks as "inevitable," refusing to label a local firebombing as antisemitic, and accusing Israel of genocide and apartheid.
Kiros appears to be a real piece of... work, and her influence seems to be spreading to the nutbar left, of which the city of Denver has a surfeit.
In the hours after Kiros claimed victory, Rabbi Menachem Lehrfield, director of the Jewish Outreach Initiative in Denver, wrote on social media that he felt fearful knowing that many of his neighbors seemed to support the kind of anti-Israel rhetoric Kiros campaigned on. After his post was met with a barrage of antisemitic comments, Lehrfield published an op-ed explaining how for observant Jews like himself, just wearing a yarmulke down the streets in Denver now feels like a dangerous thing to do.
Just 24 hours after publishing his op-ed, those fears became a reality.
Note that this isn't Beirut. This isn't Tehran. This isn't Kabul. It isn't even Germany in 1940. This is Denver, Colorado, in the supposedly modern year of 2026. But Denver has always been a key hub of leftist activism in Colorado, along with Boulder, the two of which comprise what I've always described as the "Denver-Boulder Axis," and they sure seem to be earning that name now, as they re-indulge in that ancient hate. Rabbi Lehrfield describes what happened to him:
"I was walking down the street right here, right outside this building, and somebody rolled down their window and yelled, ‘dirty Jew,’ to me," Lehrfield told Fox News Digital during an interview at his Denver office. "I don't know what's going to happen next time. I don't know if next time, instead of hurling vile words, they'll be hurling an explosive like the person who killed Karen Diamond in Boulder. I don't know if they're going to do something to me or my family or my community. There's a real fear that we're living with."
It's real, yes, and it's justified, by millions of Jewish victims, throughout history.
Here's the thing: There's almost no way that Melat Kiros, in Colorado's 1st Congressional District, is going to fail to be elected to the House of Representatives. Her primary victory, and her upset victory over long-term Rep. Diana DeGette (CO-01), is tantamount to election. This is a district that, in 2024, sent Rep. DeGette back to Congress with a vote of 76.5 to the 21.6 percent of the vote that went to her Republican challenger, Valdamar Archuleta. This is a district that would elect a coconut if it had a "D" after its name. So, yes, another commie candidate will almost certainly be going to the House of Representatives, there to achieve a larger platform for her anti-Israel, antisemitic remarks. Meanwhile, her Jewish constituents will be back in Denver, sweating it out.
Editor’s Note: The 2026 Midterms will determine the fate of President Trump’s America First agenda. Republicans must maintain control of both chambers of Congress.
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