[UPDATE] Julia Salazar Says Daily Caller 'Outed' Her As Sexual Assault Survivor

Julia Salazar at a McCarren Park rally last month

State Senate candidate Julia Salazar expects to be publicly identified as a sexual assault survivor against her will, according to a statement she shared on Tuesday. The Salazar campaign tells Gothamist that the article, which focuses on sexual misconduct allegations against David Keyes—spokesperson for Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu—is expected to appear in the far-right politics website The Daily Caller today.

"We're absolutely disgusted that right-wing media would use Julia's victimization as a political tool," Michael Kinnucan, Salazar's deputy campaign manager, said.

In her tweet, Salazar said that the story "appears to be an effort to cast doubt upon [her], and other women's, accusations against Keyes." Explaining that she has only ever addressed his behavior on background, Salazar continued:

"There's a reason women don't often come forward after a traumatic experience—because of the triggering and vicious responses that follow. I strongly believe sexual assault survivors should not be outed this way, and am saddened by the effect this story may have on other women."

Salazar, a 27-year-old Democratic Socialist, is challenging well-funded incumbent Martin Dilan in the Democratic primary election for the 18th senate district, which includes Williamsburg, Bushwick, and parts of Bed-Stuy. Her campaign picked up momentum after Alexandria Ocasio-Ortez's stunning primary victory over incumbent Congressman Joe Crowley, but multiple inaccuracies and strange omissions from her official biography have continued to surface. Most recently, it was reported that Salazar had been arrested for allegedly impersonating the ex-wife of former Met Keith Hernandez; that she'd been sleeping with the baseball legend; and that she'd also stolen thousands of dollars (in cash, wine, and Pottery Barn vouchers) from the Hernandez household.

Salazar denies all of it, pointing to a defamation lawsuit against Hernandez's wife that was decided in her favor. And she was ultimately not charged. But other questions linger, like those regarding her political affiliations: Salazar only recently registered as a Democrat, having previously identified as a Republican and an Independent on voter registration forms in her home state of Florida. Despite her current advocacy for reproductive rights and justice, she led an anti-abortion group in college. Questions have been raised about her Jewish identity (her former classmates rose to her defense) and her economic status growing up. She has walked back the notion, originally perpetuated by her campaign site, that she is a Colombian-born immigrant, and has been criticized in the NY Times for falsely implying that she graduated from Columbia University.

On Tuesday, the government watchdog group Citizens Union took the unusual step of rescinding its endorsement of Salazar.

"Salazar recently admitted that the information she originally provided to Citizens Union about her academic credentials was not correct, so Citizens Union has decided to express no preference in this race," Randy Mastro, chairperson of Citizens Union, said in a statement.

The Democratic Socialists of America, however, stands by her, telling Gothamist in a statement: "DSA continues to support Salazar's campaign and policies."

It's not hard to believe that the Daily Caller would leverage these biographical questions to suggest that Salazar, whose politics they despise, fabricated a story about Keyes, who—according to the Times of Israel—denies the coming allegations. In the past, the Daily Caller has asked such questions as, "Are we convicting too many rape suspects?" and smeared women who accused Bill Cosby of sexual assault, attempting to discredit their accounts.

It's also worth remembering that Salazar did not come forward of her own volition: Before today, she hadn't publicly accused Keyes of anything. And then, an estimated two in three rapes go unreported to law enforcement—in large part because survivors fear retaliation and backlash. And for every 1,000 rapes, roughly seven perpetrators will be convicted. Whatever men's rights groups may argue, the real number of false rape reports is vanishingly small.

This story is, however, developing. The Daily Caller did not immediately respond to a request for comment. We will update as we learn more.

UPDATE: The Daily Caller published its story Tuesday afternoon, alleging that Salazar wrote about the assault on Facebook in 2016, but then deleted the post. The Israeli Times covered the accusations at the time without naming Salazar, according to the Caller, which received its tip from a "former friend" of the candidate. "This man, Israeli Prime Minister Netanyahu's new spokesperson, is an American who sexually assaults women—and I'm here to tell you this from firsthand experience," her post reportedly read. "I still remember vividly the night that this happened, and have a record that corroborates it."

In a statement to Gothamist, Kinnucan confirmed: "Julia posted a private FB post to her friends list to warn other women who knew Keyes. She deleted it very soon after—less than 24 hours, she believes."

UPDATE: In response to Gothamist's request for comment, Daily Caller News Foundation Editor-in-Chief Christopher Bedford said, "I think our reporting largely stands for itself." He added that he was "disappointed" to see that reporting described as "intended to cast doubt" on survivors of "such a sensitive crime."

Meanwhile, Kinnucan tells Gothamist that Salazar "deleted [the post] because she found out an FB friend had screen-shotted it and sent [it] to a reporter." She "felt betrayed and scared of retaliation," he continued.