Texas congressional candidate claims she never called for 'internment camps' after party leaders condemn her

By Fox News · Fox News

A Texas Democratic congressional candidate who pledged to convert an immigration detention center near San Antonio "into a prison for American Zionists" clarified her position Thursday following sharp criticism from members of her own party. Maureen Galindo, who is running for a House seat in the newly redrawn 35th Congressional District, posted a video on Facebook days after criticizing wealthy supporters of Israel. She claimed that following her initial remarks, she received hundreds of "death threats" and other "vile" messages. "I never said I want Jews in internment camps," Galindo said. "I said I want to close all ICE detention centers and put billionaire American Zionists who are funding the genocidal prison systems involved in trafficking into prison." "If they committed a crime , do they not belong in prison?" she added. TEXAS DEMOCRAT MAUREEN GALINDO FACES BACKLASH FOR PLEDGING TO IMPRISON 'AMERICAN ZIONISTS' AT ICE FACILITY "I'm against all internment camps and would like to see them all shut down ASAP, starting with the many in South Texas," Galindo said, referring to U.S. Immigration and Custom Enforcement (ICE) detention facilities. Galindo accused the Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee (DCCC) of coordinating statements against her in an effort to back her primary runoff opponent, Johnny Garcia, a former hostage negotiator and public information officer for the Bexar County Sheriff's Office. She also accused a local journalist, whom she claimed "literally wants me dead," of fabricating the "internment camps" comment. The backlash began when Galindo stated in an Instagram post earlier this month that she would turn the "Karnes ICE Detention Center into a prison for American Zionists and former ICE officers for human trafficking." DEMOCRATS VOW TO VOTE 'EVERY SINGLE DAY' TO EXPEL FELLOW DEM FROM CONGRESS IF SHE WINS MIDTERM "It will also be a castration processing center for pedophiles, which will probably be most of the Zionists," Galindo wrote…