Markets 
A Long Island Congressional candidate’s social media “likes” are full of hate.
Suffolk County political hopeful Lukas Ventouras keeps giving the digital thumbs up to posts by Slums of the Hamptons, a year-old Instagram account studded with content which mocks Jews’ fears of rising antisemitism, lampoons Jewish celebrities and the Israeli Defense Forces.
The 25-year-old NYU grad — who faces off against 36-year-old Chris Gallant in the June 23 Democratic primary — is vying to represent tens of thousands of Jewish people in the First District, which stretches from parts of northern Suffolk County to include all of Long Island’s tony East End.
In May, Ventouras commented with a laughing emoji on a vile Slums of the Hamptons post that implied Jerry Seinfeld flosses with human organs from Palestinians, according to a review of his social media, a move which felt “like a gut punch,” locals said.
“It felt like he really identified with his horribly antisemitic post,” one Hamptonite lamented to The Post. “It tells me that he endorses this antisemitic blood libel.”
The law school student — who in a debate last month demonized Israel for “land stolen from Palestinians”— has also “liked” crass posts about Jews and trafficked in harmful antisemitic tropes from his official candidate account.
Ventouras’ official account also “liked” an April 10 post trolling local “establishment dems,” who, the off-color page wrote, are considering “rolling over and dying.”
The post — targeting Suffolk County Democrats — was captioned, “Suburban Dems appear to support war, Epstein class, billionaires, for-profit health care, Israel. What are they against?”
Outraged Hamptonites blasted the insensitivity.
“As a Jewish resident of the Hamptons, I condemn the horrible antisemitic and ugly manifestation of the anti-Jewish activities of this candidate,” Mitchel Agoos, who’s supporting Republican incumbent Nick LaLota, told The Post.
“I condemn the remarks, behavior and manifestation of antisemitic hate pages like this.”
Ventouras, who has been described as a “first generation American” even though he said in a campaign video that his grandfather escaped Greece’s 1950’s civil war, espoused the “American Dream,” such as becoming an “actor, businessman or basketball player.”
He also blasted the “rapacious middle man” that will crumble from the implementation of universal healthcare.
Ventouras’ official campaign account also “liked” a “The Onion”-esque post about the American Israel Public Affairs Committee that featured the satiric headline, “AIPAC money flowing through LI’s corridors of power faster than microplastics through your water faucet: Science report.”
The aspiring Congressman – along with his Democratic rival and military pilot Gallant – also “liked” a conspiratorial post about the so-called “Israeli lobby” and “Islamophobic hate crimes” alleging LaLota and the current Long Island Congressional delegation ignores “Islamophobia” because they’re bought off by Jewish money.
Concerned residents believe Slums of the Hamptons, which is run by Joseph Charles Mollica, endorsed Ventouras after the account repeatedly endorsed the candidate’s campaign.
Mollica told The Post his site is “against all forces of evil,” which he then listed in an expletive-laden, anti-Israel and anti-Trump screed, before claiming: “Jerry Seinfeld is a Zionist pig, f—k him forever.”
Ventouras did not respond to a request for comment from The Post.
“If Lukas feels comfortable leaving comments like this for the public to see on these posts, it feels possible that he has other, far worse behavior on the internet from other accounts or on other platforms,” one resident told The Post, adding that if Ventouras is old enough to run for Congress, he’s old enough to take accountability.
Read the full article here
