The Republican running in Ohio's Cincinnati-area 1st Congressional District said Tuesday he has removed the name of a man with a history of antisemitic reports from his web page's list of endorsements.
Orlando Sonza , who's challenging Democratic Rep. Greg Landsman , renounced the endorsement of Kiumars Kiani. That announcement came after Landsman slammed his Republican opponent for listing Kiani as one of his endorsers. The endorsement was first reported by the Jewish Insider news site.
"Orlando Sonza proudly accepting and promoting an endorsement from an extremist, conspiracy theorist, and antisemite is disturbing, but it is not surprising," Landsman said in a statement. Landsman, who lives in Cincinnati's Mount Washington neighborhood, is serving his first term representing the district that includes the city of Cincinnati, eastern Hamilton County, and all of Warren County.
On Tuesday, Landsman released a screenshot of Kiumars Kiani among a list of endorsements on Sonza's campaign page. Sonza has since removed Kiani's name from the list of endorsements but a tweet from July 21 still includes his name under endorsements from "community leaders and activists."
Sonza, in a text to The Enquirer, said Kiani's name was removed from the list of endorsements on Monday when his campaign became aware of Kiani's antisemitic comments.
"I reject his endorsement entirely," Sonza said in the texted statement Tuesday. "Antisemitism has no place in our country in our campaign, nor in our politics. I will always speak out against antisemitism even if it comes from within my own party."
Who is Kiumars Kiani?
Kiani, in a 620-word statement texted The Enquirer Tuesday evening, said he doesn't endorse or disapprove of Sonza "as we currently face more pressing issues."
He denounced journalists who he said were "beholden to figures like Jeffrey Epstein or organizations such as Mossad and the military-industrial complex." He went on to rail against what he saw as misuse of the terms Semite and antisemite, journalists who "often ignore the suffering of Christian Armenians," and other atrocities he sees as "obscured by the mainstream media."
"Therefore, the next time you approach me, I urge you to reflect on the labels you employ," Kiani said in the text.
Kiani has run as a write-in candidate for Congress in the Cincinnati region multiple times, most recently in 2020 when he got less than 0.05% of the vote, including just seven votes in Hamilton County.
On social media, Kiani has referred to himself as "Dr. Q."
On the Facebook page ElectDrQ, Kiani in 2016 listed Jim Condit Jr. as his campaign manager. Condit has also run for Congress and has a history of running antisemitic ads.
Condit has filed complaints with the Federal Communications Commission against WKRC-AM and WLW-AM to force them to run his ads.
During his 2016 run for Congress, Kiani ran radio ads featuring Condit that claimed Jewish bankers used the media and voting systems to help Hillary Clinton's presidential campaign and said "Jewish bankers rig key elections," according to videos and audio posted on Condit's website and YouTube channel.
The audio in 2016 posted online includes an hourlong segment paid for by Kiani's campaign on WKRC radio where Condit repeated antisemitic tropes that "all five TV networks are run by atheistic, Talmudic, Zionist Jews," Kiani, who co-hosted the show, could be heard agreeing with Condit.
Kiani lists a home address in Cincinnati's East Westwood neighborhood in documents filed with the Hamilton County Board of Elections.
In online posts, Kiani has said he's a native of Iran. His Internet Movie Database profile lists him as a producer of the 2012 film "The Cincinnati Beer Story." His biography on the site states he moved to the United States in 2000 "driven by his passion for activism."
This article originally appeared on Cincinnati Enquirer: After criticism, Landsman challenger Orlando Sonza rejects endorsement from 'antisemite'
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