Antisemitic streamer Sneako and New York City Mayor Eric Adams smoke cigars at Gracie Mansion. (Screenshot)
(JTA) — New York City Mayor Eric Adams came under fire from Jewish groups and others after sitting for an interview on the porch of the mayoral mansion Saturday with Sneako, an influential antisemitic streamer.
Adams is seeking to run for reelection on the ballot line “EndAntiSemitism.” He has also signed an executive order to recognize the International Holocaust Remembrance Alliance’s working definition of antisemitism and delivered multiple speeches about antisemitism and in support of Israel.
But Saturday night after he puffed cigars with Sneako, whose real name is Nicolas Kenn De Balinthazy, for an hour-long interview, Adams faced backlash for platforming the conservative streamer who frequently spreads anti-Israel sentiment on his platforms. Sneako has also spread antisemitic conspiracy theories and been banned by YouTube, Twitch and Kick.
“First, the President dines at Mar-a-Lago with Nick Fuentes and Kanye West—both unrepentant antisemites,” said Rep. Ritchie Torres, a New York Democrat, in a post on X. “Now, the Mayor is smoking cigars at Gracie Mansion with Sneako—yet another antisemite, who once declared: ‘Down with the Jews.’”
“Who’s next on the guest list—David Duke?” Torres continued.
Torres’ post references a stream Sneako posted in March 2024 in which he encountered three children on an anonymous video chat site who claimed to be Palestinian, and said to them, “Free Palestine, down with the Yehud.”
During his interview with Sneako, Adams advocated for using cryptocurrency to send money to relatives abroad without “paying those exorbitant fees” and recommended that “every American” read FBI Director Kash Patel’s book “Government Gangsters.”
“Every American should read that book because there is a, they use the terminology of deep state, whatever term you want, there’s a permanent government that’s connected, the media is part of it, the prosecutors are part of it, the government officials that have been in the game for 30, 40 years they all know each other,” said Adams.
In a press briefing about public safety on Monday, Adams addressed the criticism of his meeting with Sneako and told reporters that “hindsight is 20-20” when asked if he should “vet people better.”
“This was not a planned interview,” said Adams. “I didn’t know his history, I don’t support anything that is criticizing any group in the city.”
Adams told reporters that he had been on the back porch of Gracie Mansion with his son, Jordan Coleman, smoking cigars when “other people came to join.” He later disclosed that he had invited the conservative influencer Amber Rose to the residence so she could meet his son, saying that she brought Sneako: “When she came in, she brought a friend, and he was the friend she brought.”
Adams said he had not altered his behavior because of who his guests were, and he reiterated his commitment against antisemitism.
“I just try to be authentic and true to who I am,” he siad. “So no matter where I record it, or who records me, they’re going to see the authentic Eric. You look through that entire conversation I had with that young man, you didn’t hear anything antisemitic, you didn’t hear anything that I haven’t said before about my life.”
The interview included a discussion of Jewish identity. During the stream, Rose and Adams asked Sneako about his own ethnicity. Sneako replied, “My mom’s Filipino, and my dad is half Black and quarter Jewish-quarter white.”
Sneako had previously shared that information with the Jewish streamer Adin Ross, holding up a blurred DNA profile and saying that his grandfather was a Holocaust survivor. But in conversation with Ross, Sneako also refused to call Adolf Hitler evil and also promoted antisemitic conspiracy theories about the Holocaust.
When asked by Ross in a stream in April 2023 whether Hitler was evil, Sneako replied, “I think he was a bad person, I don’t know if he was evil, I haven’t met the guy.”
In September 2024 in another stream with Ross, Sneako appeared to cast doubt on the gas chambers used to kill Jews during the Holocaust, a frequent argument among Holocaust deniers.
“I’m not saying like it didn’t happen, I’m just saying why would they have wooden doors in the gas chambers?” asked Sneako. “How do you fit 6 million people in a gas chamber? Why not just shoot them like every other genocide?”
In August 2024, Sneako also posted on X, “We’re sick of hearing about the holocaust.”
Since Saturday’s livestream interview, Jewish groups have strongly condemned the mayor’s decision to host the streamer.
Jews for Racial & Economic Justice Action, a left-wing nonprofit group, accused Adams of using his “EndAntisemitism” ballot line as a “transparent PR stunt” in a post on X along with a photo of Adams and Sneako shaking hands.
“This is something we’re unfortunately getting used to: elected officials telling us they’re committed to combating antisemitism, even running for office on it, but giving a platform to avowed antisemites,” Phylisa Wisdom, the executive director of the New York Jewish Agenda, a progressive advocacy group, said in a statement.
“It matters whose voices we platform, and having Sneako broadcast from the people’s house in the most Jewish city in America is unacceptable. There is no possible misunderstanding when a person has said ‘down with the Jews,’” the statement continued.
Betar Worldwide, a far-right pro-Israel group, also criticized Adams, accusing him in a post on X of smoking cigars with “Jew hating ‘influencer’ sneako.”
“Adams has been terrible for the Jews during his time as mayor now he’s hosting a terrible anti semite!,” the post read.
Both Adams and Sneako have since rejected the criticisms they’ve faced since the interview. In a livestream, Sneako held up a New York Post article that labelled him a “hate influencer” and accused the media of painting criticism of Israel as antisemitism.
“It doesn’t seem like any of the journalists watched the interview,” said Sneako. “They didn’t even quote it. They didn’t quote about the fact that I’m Jewish. And I said in the interview itself that I’m Jewish when I was asked my ethnicity by the mayor.
“Do they talk about the fact that my family died in Auschwitz, that I have family, that I’m a product of the Holocaust? They don’t mention that,” he continued.
“They say ‘hate influencer’ because I criticize Israel and they want to discredit you by calling you antisemitic,” said Sneako. “But here’s the truth. Nobody gives a f—k about like, that word has no more meaning. Have you noticed that? Antisemitism is being used so much to silence people who are speaking the truth. Nobody believes in it anymore. It doesn’t it doesn’t hold any weight.”
Rose defended Sneako in a post on X, writing, “FAKE NEWS!!! @nypost I was there and know @sneako!! He’s a Jew! Liarrrrrsss why are you trying to sabotage @NYCMayor???”
