Former Advisor to Barack Obama loses job after making Islamophic comments in viral video
Nov 22, 2023
Washington, DC [US], November 22 : A former administration adviser to Barack Obama, Stuart Seldowitz, has been seen in a viral video making an Islamophobic rant at a Halal cart vendor in New York, The Hill reported.
Seldowitz, in a viral video shared on X on Tuesday, was caught harassing a New York City food vendor and hurling a slew of anti-Palestine comments and insults at the unidentified vendor. The footage was shared on X by a Columbia University student. Since then a second video of Seldowitz making simmilar comments has also been shared on X.
In the video Seldowitz called the Halal Cart vendor a "terrorist" and made other comments about him in regard to the Israel-Hamas conflict, according to The Hill.
Following the incident, Gotham Government Relations, a DC-based lobbying firm, has reportedly cut ties with a former Obama administration adviser, according to The Hill.
"Gotham Government Relations has ended all affiliation with Stuart Seldowitz, an individual who hasn't contributed to our work in years," the lobbying firm said Tuesday on X.
Gotham Government Relations further condemned Seldowitz's comments, calling them "racist."
"The video of his actions is vile, racist, and beneath the dignity of the standards we practise at our firm," they said.
Reportedly, Seldowitz served as the acting director for the National Security Council South Asia Directorate under the Obama administration, according to his Gotham Government Relations bio. He was also Deputy Director in the US State Department's Office of Israel and Palestinian Affairs from 1999 to 2003.
He was hired by the lobbying firm last year as its foreign affairs chair, The Hill reported, citing a news release.
Seldowitz's comments came as the Israel-Hamas war continues, which has spiked in anti-Semitism and Islamophobia in the US, according to The Hill.
The conflict in Gaza escalated after the October 7 attack by Hamas, where about 2,500 terrorists breached the border into Israel from the Gaza Strip, leading to casualties and the seizure of hostages.
Hamas terrorists seized about 240 hostages during the assault when they surged across Gaza's militarised border into southern Israel to kill around 1,200 people, mostly civilians who were massacred at their homes and fleeing a music festival amid brutal atrocities, The Times of Israel reported.
