Former Biden Administration official and Gen Z congressional candidate Jay Vaingankar, 28, released a statement Monday, April 6, 2026, in response to MAGA leader Laura Loomer and her followers’ racist attacks on his campaign for Congress in New Jersey’s 12th Congressional District:
“Over the weekend, Trump confidante Laura Loomer and her far-right allies attacked me by name in a series of racist posts calling me ‘un-American’ and accusing my campaign of putting ‘America Last’ – all because I posted a video reaching out to voters in Hindi.
“What followed was even more disturbing. Within hours, I was flooded with messages and comments filled with death threats, racial slurs, and calls for me to be deported and stripped of my birthright citizenship.
“That says everything about the state of our politics under Trump. Extremists like Loomer want to intimidate anyone who doesn’t fit a narrow definition of who belongs in this country, and they try to silence campaigns that are actually doing outreach in every community.
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“New Jersey’s 12th Congressional District is one of the most diverse places in America. One in every three residents is foreign-born, and two in five households speak a language other than English. While Loomer calls this ‘un-American’, in Central Jersey we know that this diversity represents the best of America.
“As the son of Hindi speakers and a Spanish speaker myself, I’m proud to use my language skills to connect with diverse communities that are too often left out of our politics. That’s why organizations like AAPI Victory Fund and Indian American Impact Fund have endorsed this campaign. They recognize that for too long Democrats have underinvested in organizing and listening to certain communities.
“I have been building coalitions in my community since I was in high school, from Trenton shop owners to North Brunswick high schoolers to Bound Brook churchgoers. The racist threats by extremist MAGA agitators like Loomer won’t scare me into stopping now. If anything, they make it even clearer what’s at stake in this election.
“Our rising utility bills and health care premiums don’t care what language we speak at home. I’m going to keep fighting for a new generation of leadership that represents all of us.”
(For more information about the campaign, visit www.JayVaingankar.com or follow @JayforJersey on all social media)