Kids’ YouTuber and Zohran Mamdani-ally Ms. Rachel is being slammed for offering a crocodile-tear apology for liking a vile antisemitic Instagram comment — after she endorsed a pro-Hamas account that appeared to “blame the Jews” for the scandal.
Mayor Mamdani has been urged by Jewish groups to distance himself from Ms. Rachel in the wake of the scandal by one antisemitism watchdog.
The social media star, who won millions of toddler fans with her sing-song-voice videos, had already admitted to liking a comment calling for America to be “free from the Jews.” She said it was an innocent mistake.
Ms. Rachel, whose real name is Rachel Griffin Accurso, insisted on Wednesday she had “accidentally hit like” while scrolling, and that she had meant to click “hide” on the comment instead.
But the Maine-born influencer then appeared to endorse another antisemitic trope that was put forward by a pro-Hamas Instagram account, which claimed that a pro-Israel or Jewish group had posted the original antisemitic comment to trap her.
“Spoiler alert: They left the comment themselves,” posted an account called thepalestinenewsnetwerk, which pushes antisemitic influencers such as Sneako and Andrew Tate.
“Oooooo00000hhhhh,” replied Ms. Rachel.
Ms. Rachel’s non-apology and further comments have been attacked by civil rights and Jewish groups.
“Ms. Rachel doesn’t answer the criticism, she cries and plays the victim. She ignores Jewish concerns, Jewish constituents, and blows off antisemitism for a publicity stunt,” Liora Rez, Founder and Executive Director of StopAntisemitism, told The Post.
“Pushing one-sided political narratives, and then calls accountability ‘bullying.’ That’s not leadership. That’s exactly why she shouldn’t be anywhere near a mayor’s office,” Rez added.
Ms. Rachel was appointed to newly-elected Mayor Mamdani’s inauguration committee, and also appeared alongside him at a Manhattan pre-K center earlier this week.
StopAntisemitism nominated Ms. Rachel for their “Antisemite of the Year” list last year over her Gaza posts.
The organization accused her of using “Hamas-aligned language” and “inflated casualty figures” in her frequent posts to her personal social media mages about the conflict in Gaza.
She was found to have posted about children in Gaza nearly 50 times, compared to almost no posts about children from Israel or other conflict zones such as Ukraine or Sudan.
Ms. Rachel also faced stinging attacks on social media.
“‘Apologizes’ for ‘accidentally’ liking a comment that says ‘Free America from Jews.’ Immediately comments supportively of a comment from a pro-Hamas account claiming that Jews set her up. Just incredible stuff,” a writer for the conservative political blog Red State wrote on X.
Sharing a doctored picture of Ms. Rachel with a Hitler mustache, Israeli activist Uri Cohen quipped, “I accidentally grew a mustache, by mistake,” in a post on X.
A third X user, calling herself “The Persian Jewess,” also poured scorn on Ms. Rachel’s claims that she had made a simple mistake on Instagram by liking the antisemitic comment.
“The like button and hide button are nowhere near one another and are clearly different. Even a child wouldn’t be confused distinguishing a heart symbol from the word ‘hide.’ Ms. Rachel is gaslighting all of you,” she wrote.
The incident started when Ms. Rachel, who originally found fame with viral YouTube content aimed at young children before becoming increasingly political, made an Instagram post out of a screenshot from her Notes app, reading, “Free Palestine, Free Sudan, Free Congo, Free Iran.”
After her blunder in the comments section, the YouTuber made a non-apology before saying she was only “human,” as an apparent defense.
“I would never agree with an antisemitic thing like the comment. We have Jewish family, a lot of my friends are Jewish. I delete antisemitic comments,” Ms. Rachel said.
“I want to say that it’s OK to be human and it’s OK to make mistakes and I’m old, so I am not as good with touching things online, I guess. I have liked things by accident before,” she added.
This is the latest alleged incident of antisemitism involving Ms. Rachel, who boasts more than 18 million YouTube subscribers.
After the Oct. 7, 2023 attacks, when Hamas’s murderous militants slaughtered hundreds of Israeli men, women and children, Ms. Rachel was noticeably silent, before speaking out only to share anti-Israel content.
Last year, she also sat down with former Qatari-paid shill Mehdi Hasan to talk about Palestinian children.
And Ms. Rachel’s inclusion in Mayor Mamdani’s inauguration committee also sparked disgust from many prominent Jewish New Yorkers.
“She brings false charges against Jews. She smears Jews. What a disgrace,” former CUNY trustee Jeffrey Wiesenfeld told The Post in December.
She also collaborated on Instagram with terrorist sympathizer and Palestinian photojournalist, Motaz Azaiza.
Representatives for Ms. Rachel did not respond to requests for comment on Thursday.
