Exclusive | Complete hypocrite: Mamdani-backed Congress candidate slams billionaires and AI industry while raking in their cash

A Queens pol running for Congress backed by NYC Mayor Zohran Mamdani and the rest of the Democratic Socialists of America has repeatedly railed against billionaires and the artificial intelligence industry – while quietly pocketing their money.Democratic state Assemblywoman Claire Valdez – who is running to replace retiring Rep.Nydia Velázquez – accepted $7,000 in donations in January from Silicon Valley-based billionaire AI investor and software developer Tom Preston-Werner and his wife Theresa, records show.Valdez, 36, has also collected at least another $1,850 in donations from employees of AI companies.

And her campaign — which her latest filings show had taken in $751,680 as of the end of March — is also being heavily supported by political action committees that have received hundreds of thousands of dollars directly from billionaires and other AI investors, records also revealed.Valdez has routinely vowed to take on “the billionaire class” throughout the campaign and reject donations from people in the AI industry – and even bragged her team is vetting donations carefully.She has also repeatedly tried to tie AI and tech billionaires to what she feels are systemic economic and environmental problems.“AI.Fossil fuels.

Private utilities,” Valdez posted May 11 on X.“The same oligarchs creating an affordability crisis are burning the planet.

The solution must address both problems at once.”The donations aren’t sitting well with some of New York’s most seasoned Democratic operatives.“Claire Valdez is a complete hypocrite,” said a top NYC Democratic consultant.“One day, she bashes billionaires and Big Tech then turns around and pockets their campaign cash.“One day she’s railing against super PACs and ‘dark money;’ the next she is eagerly accepting their support.Washington is drowning in politicians who say one thing and do another.

For all her holier‑than‑thou progressive rhetoric, Claire is proving she’s just ...