Sen. Alfonse D’Amato (R-N.Y.) called his Democratic rival for New York’s Senate seat a “putzhead.” D’Amato made the remark about Rep. Charles Schumer (D-N.Y.), who is Jewish, during a breakfast Wednesday with Jewish leaders. Schumer, who polls show is locked in a dead heat with D’Amato, called it a “cheap slur against me.” In a letter to Schumer, D’Amato acknowledged using the word, which he said meant “fool,” and charged that Schumer was trying to “twist that into a religious slur.”
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The Archive of the Jewish Telegraphic Agency includes articles published from 1923 to 2008. Archive stories reflect the journalistic standards and practices of the time they were published.
