Challenger's attack on Phoenix Mayor Kate Gallego called antisemitic

The man trying to unseat Phoenix Mayor Kate Gallego this November posted a video casting her as demonic on Oct. 11, the holiest day of the Jewish calendar, prompting claims of antisemitism.

Matt Evans, a 36-year-old software engineer, posted a video the morning of the first day of Yom Kippur showing Gallego, who is Jewish, with glowing purple eyes, devil horns and red flames.

The minute-long video starts with a clip of Gallego introducing herself as Kate "Widland," her maiden name, then flashes through a series of videos and news clips cataloging controversies Gallego has faced as mayor.

In the background, CIL's 2023 song "Devil In Your Eyes" is playing.

The caption reads, "I saw the devil in your eyes @mayorkategallego. You've ruined my city, you've pushed your radical agenda without considering how it impacts the regular working class."

Evans then criticizes Gallego for not debating him. "You can hide behind your smile and you can hide behind your team of lawyers but I see right through you."

Hours after the post, Councilman Carlos Galindo-Elvira, who is Jewish, rebuked Evans on social media for posting "one of the oldest #antisemitic tropes of Jews as the devil" hours before the start of Yom Kippur.

Yom Kippur is the Day of Atonement in the Jewish faith and is considered the holiest of Judaism's two High Holy Days — the other is Rosh Hashanah, the New Year celebration.

According to the American Jewish Committee, "Referring to Jews as Satan or the devil stems from the interpretation of John 8:41-44 in the Christian Bible. Here Jesus says to his fellow Jews, “For you are the children of your father the devil, and you love to do the evil things he does. … When (the devil) lies, it is consistent with his character; for he is a liar and the father of lies.”

Sarah Kader, deputy regional director of the Anti-Defamation League, said the video exacerbates existing anti-Jewish sentiments at a time when antisemitism is surging.

“Posts like this can further fan the flames of anti-Jewish sentiments. Regardless of intent, the post contains a number of problematic elements including the physical distortion of the candidate’s face to make her look demonic, direct references to her being the devil, the flashing of the term 'globalist' in a headline, the inexplicable use of her maiden name, and releasing it on Yom Kippur," Kader said.

She added, "The fact that (Gallego) being Jewish is also utilized as a point of comparison on (Evans') website is problematic on its own while also adding to how the post characterizing her as demonic is experienced by a community that is facing a resurgence of antisemitism not seen in generations.”

Challenger, mayor weigh in on Evans' post

Evans told The Arizona Republic on Friday his post had "nothing to do" with Gallego's Jewish faith and he didn't know about the trope.

He said he didn't know it was Yom Kippur until hours after the post and still didn't see the connection between the holiday and his post until Galindo-Elvira called him out.

He noted it was disingenuous to claim his video was posted on Yom Kippur since he posted the video early Friday morning, and that Yom Kippur — he recently learned — started Friday evening.

Responding to Galindo-Elvira, Evans pointed back at Gallego and called Galindo-Elvira "a dirtbag politician" for making the connection.

"First off, Christians like myself are still waiting for an apology for when @MayorGallego shutdown our parks on easter. Where was your outrage then? Secondly, this post has nothing to do with her religion. Only a dirtbag politician like yourself would try to make that connection," Evans wrote.

In 2021, Phoenix City Council voted to keep parks open but shut down parking lots and grills at city parks on Easter weekend as a response to the COVID-19 pandemic. The council wanted to mitigate crowding during what Parks and Recreation Director Cynthia Aguilar said was the busiest time of the year for parks.

The decision erupted into controversy after former Republican Gov. Doug Ducey condemned the council's decision and demanded reversal. It was one of several feuds between Ducey and Gallego during the pandemic.

Gallego responded to Evans' video through a spokesperson on Friday evening.

"Since the very beginning of his bizarre campaign, my opponent has tried to weaponize my faith against me — even listing it on his website as a reason to support him. I'm glad people are taking notice because this kind of antisemitism is incredibly dangerous and has no place in America or our politics," the mayor said.

Gallego's comment refers to a page on Evans' website comparing demographic and policy position differences between the two. It lists hometown, family, political party, religion, education, occupation, homelessness, campaign finance and immigration.

Evans rejected Gallego's claims of him weaponizing her faith, saying he added religion because he wanted to showcase he's a proud Christian. He said he didn't know Gallego's faith until he looked it up and noted "there was no ulterior motive."

"This is straight out of Kate's playbook — stay quiet, avoid answering real questions, but play the victim when you have the chance," Evans said.

He added that he "stands by" what he posted and would do it again because his intent was not to be antisemitic.

Evans said he hopes people listen to his side of the story and judge him based on his response, "But I'm not going to cower to people wanting to paint a narrative that is not true because I think that if I did, I would be playing into that there is some truth to it."

Evans explains why he posted the inflammatory video

Evans said he posted the video because "I heard the song a few months ago and ... thought using that symbolism would be a powerful way to convey how she's misleading the people of Phoenix."

He went on to share his experience as a father of three for the past four years, watching homelessness and open-air drug use deteriorate Phoenix, the city where he grew up. He turned emotional as he said the conditions made him consider leaving the city.

"To me, when I literally have to be faced with the decision of moving out of my hometown where I was born and raised because of her policies? Yes, I do think she's evil. I do," he said. "I know it sounds very harsh to say she's evil, the devil, but that's what I really believe. I really believe that Kate Gallego is this fake career politician who just has the interest of her career aspirations."

He blamed Gallego’s policies, saying her refusal to recognize the severity of homelessness led to situations where "I have to explain to my son why he's seeing someone smoking fentanyl ..."

Evans also has accused Gallego of keeping her last name despite her divorce from U.S. Rep. Ruben Gallego to win over Latino voters.

Pushing for a debate?

Evans said part of his social media post stemmed from frustration that Gallego won't debate him.

For weeks, Evans has asked the mayor's campaign team for a debate. However, there has been no formal offer from an independent entity to host such an event.

"I had to push the thread a little to get her to engage. Unfortunately, instead of focusing on the issues that matter, she’s now twisting this into a false narrative about faith," Evans said.

At a meet-and-greet for Evans' supporters Friday evening, he shared the difficulty of raising his name recognition among voters.

Organizations typically host debates in highly competitive election races. Sometimes that's measured by the number of candidates in a particular race; other times, it can come down to how much support each candidate has.

Campaign finance reports show Evans is at a significant disadvantage compared with Gallego.

According to the most recent reports, Gallego has $1.4 million cash on hand, with donations from four political action committees, 225 in-state donors and 90 out-of-state donors. Evans' campaign is nearly $1,000 in the red and he had a single donor. The next round of reports is due near the end of the month and likely will show a change.

Evans has increased his campaigning, attending multiple GOP legislative district meetings to pitch himself and speaking on podcasts. He said his momentum is building.

Taylor Seely covers Phoenix for The Arizona Republic / azcentral.com. Reach her at [email protected] or by phone at 480-476-6116.

This article originally appeared on Arizona Republic: Rival's attack on Phoenix Mayor Kate Gallego called antisemitic