Monster of the Week: Jacob Perasso

Democrats and Republicans both are trying to stop Kshama Sawant from making it through the August primary to challenge Adam Smith in the general election.

But another candidate has entered the ring to split the socialist vote and help Adam Smith win. Jacob Perasso, a member of the Socialist Workers Party, filed at the last minute and will be on the primary ballot. He has no campaign website, and has seemingly raised no money. The Socialist Workers Party hasn’t even written an article about this election. 

Jacob Perasso calls himself a “socialist”, but he has much more in common with AIPAC-loving Adam Smith than he does with Kshama Sawant or any other socialist. 

The Socialist Workers Party, for the last 25 years, has been an openly Zionist organization. They publicly deny the genocide in Gaza, and believe that Israel’s horrific ethnic cleansing in Gaza is a defensive war. They believe that the Democrats and Republicans are not doing enough to defend Israel. They opposed Trump’s horrific “peace” plan to turn Gaza into a luxury beach resort, but only because they think it would let Hamas off easy! They say, “it’s aimed at preventing Israel from carrying its defensive war through to a decisive conclusion, occupying the territory and dismantling Hamas, a Nazi-like group backed by Tehran that is already preparing new massacres of Jews.” As if that wasn’t enough, they support the war in Iran and Israel’s attacks on Lebanon as necessary defenses of Israel.

During the summer of a surge in anti-war protest movements fighting against the genocide in 2024, the SWP organized events with Columbia University Professor Shai Davidai, who has compared pro-Palestine campus organizations with Hitler Youth. He aided in a witch hunt of student protestors during that summer and was hailed on Twitter by the Israeli government.

If their Zionism wasn’t disqualifying enough, the SWP also opposes abortion rights. They’re an embarrassment to the socialist movement and to the historical figures that these “socialists” quote to justify their awful positions. 

The role Jacob Perasso and the SWP play in this election is to try to confuse workers and pull people away from the actual independent socialist on the ballot, Kshama Sawant. Jacob Perasso has no chance of winning. And if he did, it’s clear he wouldn’t be all that different from Adam Smith. He may even find a way to be more pro-Israel! He is here to help make sure that a 30-year incumbent Zionist Democrat stays in office for another two years.

Don’t be fooled by the “Socialist” Workers Party. Vote Sawant.