The Envoy

I am The Hunter College Envoy‘s politics editor and have interviewed several candidates for public office over the last 3 years (for example Mamdani). On March 23, 2026, I went to the publicly listed address of Jose Vega, a long-shot independent candidate running in the Democratic primary against the incumbent Ritchie Torres (D) to represent the NY-15th U.S. Congressional district. 

I called Vega several times to schedule an interview. Hoping to talk to him or a campaign worker, I knocked at the only address publicly listed for his campaign for 5-10 minutes, but nobody answered. I encountered a neighbor while I was there and heard a dog barking in a nearby apartment.

Within a couple hours, Vega posted my picture on his social media to “inform my neighbors about this creep.—I know who this man is and will be exposing him.”

Pro-Palestine activist and organizer Guy Christensen, Twitter handle YourFavoriteGuy, retweeted Vega’s post to his 159.1K followers.

The comments section amplified the same message, but with crasser language. 

On March 24, Vega posted a “press release” on his campaign website and social media titled “Is Pre-Assassination Surveillance Being Conducted Against Bronx Congressional Candidate Jose Vega?” On March 27, a supporter was seen leafleting a two-page document with the same title at 235 St and Johnson Ave in the Bronx. Vega has blasted his social media channels with the story, asking for money to support his campaign’s security. His supporters have been very engaged with his version of the story. One even posted a photo of my mother.

So who is Jose Vega? Why are he and his associates so quick to believe that I, a student reporter, am an agent of Israel, part of AIPAC, and out to cause him physical harm? 

LaRouchism

Vega is a follower of the LaRouche movement, and his views and campaign techniques are derived from that. Lyndon LaRouche was an American political cult leader, conspiracy theorist, and perennial presidential candidate who built one of the most durable fringe political movements in modern American history. 

The politics of the movement defy easy categorization. When LaRouche was young, he was a communist, but swung to the right, espousing views similar to Senator McCarthy for a while. Later he became pro-Russian, anti-gay, anti-environmentalist, anti-Israel, and above all anti-British. He loves space lasers and strong leaders. His followers ran for office and published newspapers. They aggressively solicited donations, which eventually drew federal scrutiny. In 1988, LaRouche was convicted of mail fraud and conspiracy to obstruct justice, serving five years of a fifteen-year sentence before his release in 1994.

LaRouche died in 2019, but his organization and ideas live on. In 2024 I interviewed Vega’s former boss and heir to the Larouche organization, Diane Sare. Sare has made many appearances on Russian state-media and frequently echoes Kremlin talking points. She accused me of being in the CIA after I asked about her connections to Russia. 

Vega’s campaign for the U.S. Congress

This is Vega’s second time challenging Torres (D) during the Democratic primary. Vega received just 2.3% of the vote in 2024. If he loses this primary, he says he will run in the general election as an independent. 

Vega began his political journey at 15 when he joined the LaRouche Youth Movement. He is 28 years old now. He has built a following through disruptive stunts to rack up viral moments and new fans. In 2025, he confronted Torres at a Bronx diner, telling him, “you just seem to love war, whether it’s in the Ukraine or Gaza.” 

A year earlier, Vega interrupted an Asia Society event to warn that the U.S. was headed for World War 3 unless it allied with China and Russia.

Kevin Pearl, a writer for the LaRouche publication, EIR, asked Vega about how his activism with the LaRouche movement shaped his approach to politics. Vega replied that “from meeting this organization at a young age, I was first fascinated by the geometry, the physics, the astronomy of it all.”

Cenk Uygur interviewed Vega on The Young Turks in February 2026. Uygur thought Vega was no longer a LaRouchite, but Vega corrected him, saying, “Well, I am still very much associated with the LaRouche organization.” Vega continued, “The real reason why I decided to call myself a LaRouche member … is because he [LaRouche] was right.”

Vega is a frequent guest on The Jimmy Dore Show. Dore is a former member of the Young Turks. “You would be the greatest anti-Israel in Congress if elected,” said Dore to Vega. “I think you should just run against the Israeli flag.” 

Vega’s press release: “Is Pre-Assassination Surveillance Being Conducted Against Bronx Congressional Candidate Jose Vega?”

I felt it was important to the Hunter community to understand who this candidate is and what he really believes. To that end, I called Vega to set up an interview, as I have done for many other candidates in previous elections.  For Vega I never made it past the automated system, despite calling four or five times. I suspected my name was being screened, likely because of my 2024 interview with fellow LaRouchite Sare. On March 23 I went to what I thought was Vega’s campaign headquarters. It was the address listed on his public Federal Election Commission (FEC) filing. 

On March 24, Vega posted a lengthy press release on X:

“On Monday afternoon, March 23, the apartment of Congressional candidate Jose Vega was placed under surveillance by an individual, or individuals, purporting to wish “to do an interview” with the candidate. … Candidate Vega reported that “At 2:58pm, I received a call from Alex Augenbraun, asking if he could interview me in person.”

I am a reporter, so no, I was not conducting “pre-assassination surveillance.” I knocked on the door, spoke to a neighbor, and left the building when there was no response. Before giving up on talking to the candidate, I decided to call him one last time. He picked up the phone. We agreed to a Zoom interview the next day.

But 20 minutes later he texted me, “did you just come by my families [sic] apartment asking for an interview?”

I replied, “I apologize. I thought it was your campaign office—found it on the FEC filing. Sorry if that spooked your family.  I had tried calling your office before without hearing back so I thought I’d try to meet you at your office”

Vega’s press release continues:

Augenbraun represents himself as a “student journalist” from Hunter College, but published an article written for the November 13, 2023 issue of the Jewish Telegraphic Agency … The JTA had published a hit-piece against candidate Vega two months earlier framing him as an “antisemite.”

I wrote that freelance opinion piece for JTA three years ago. I have never been a journalist or on staff at the JTA, contrary to one of Christensen’s posts.

Not all jews are Zionists or religious. I personally have evolved in my thinking about Israel since I wrote the JTA opinion article. I did not even agree at the time with all of the edits made to the piece I submitted. I am not a Mossad agent, as many of Vega’s followers seem to think I am. 

Each of Vega’s posts about me end with the same ask: money. His pitch always includes a suggestion of Jewish conspiracies. For example:

“The more I continue to speak the truth, and defy silence, the more of a target I become for my opponents to ensure that the interests of the ‘Epstein Party’ are guaranteed… Our security costs are expensive, but clearly necessary, in order to continue my work and ensure my safety.”

Vega talks about the “Epstein Party” or “Class” frequently. By insinuating that because I am Jewish I am like Jeffrey Epstein, and am part of an evil Jewish cabal, knowing very little about me, Vega has proven JTA’s assessment of his antisemitism. 

Regardless of whether Vega believes in Jewish conspiracies, his followers sure do.

This story is still unfolding.