Franklin's Congressman Auchincloss, Calls Himself "Law and Order Liberal"

Franklin’s 2nd District Congressman, Jake Auchincloss, was the subject of a lengthy interview by Josh Kraushaar and Marc Rod in the July 2 Jewish Insider. A request to reprint was not answered so we include a few highlights below:

Kraushaar and Rod sat down with Auchincloss, who is Jewish, to discuss the state of the Democratic Party, the Middle East, and more.

For starters, Auchincloss suggested it was local issues rather than broad philosophical concerns that led to the recent defeat of New York Rep. Jamaal Bowman, a member of the so-called Squad, noted for progressive views, by George Latimer.

He talked at length about the challenges of anti-Semitism at home and abroad and said he will attend the planned speech to Congress by Israeli Prime minister Benjamin Netanyahu on July 24, but will walk out if he criticizes President Biden.

Auchincloss said he generally supports Netanyahu’s actions in Gaza but hopes for an early election in Israel. He also noted the challenges of growing antisemitism, especially among the young and said he is not concerned about anti-Semitism among his fellow Democrats but worries that “the next generation” could be different.

The interview concluded with Auchincloss fielding a question about the absence of punishment for pro-Palestinian rioters who occupied Hamilton Hall at Columbia University.

He responded firmly, “More broadly about property and violent crime being under-enforced — I’ve always been opposed to that. I disagreed with the decision by a previous Boston [district attorney] to blanket take 20 property crimes and say she proactively was not going to prosecute … I’m a law-and-order liberal. I believe that we should be prosecuting property and violent crime assertively, including this.