DC mayoral candidate McDuffie says daughter was threatened over clash with banned ride-share app – WTOP News

D.C. mayoral candidate Kenyan McDuffie said his daughter was threatened over a clash with a banned rideshare app.

D.C. mayoral candidate Kenyan McDuffie said his daughter was threatened over a clash with a banned ride-share app.

In a post on X Friday, he alleged that the Virginia‑based ride-share app Empower is trying to intimidate him.

“The chief of staff to Empower CEO Joshua Seer threatened me that if I did not meet with Empower and support their bill, the company would send negative messages about me and urge consumers not to rank me on their ballots in the upcoming mayoral election,” McDuffie said.

In the same video, he said the clash between him and the app led to things getting personal.

“My daughter is receiving vile messages like this one as a result of their effort,” McDuffie said.

In the video, a screenshot of an online message is shown threatening his life if he does not “unban Empower.”

McDuffie did not identify who sent the message and went on to say he will not be intimidated.

“I will not reward threats, and I will not agree to meet with any organization that believes it can pressure public officials into looking the other way while it violates the law for political gain, and let me be absolutely clear, I will do everything humanly possible to protect my family,” McDuffie said.

This rift between McDuffie and Empower goes back to his time on the D.C. Council.

Not only was McDuffie part of the council’s investigation into the business practices of Empower, he also voted against them several times.

Empower is banned from doing business in the District of Columbia because it refused to register with the city’s Department of For‑Hire Vehicles. The agency verifies insurance, conducts background checks, and enforces anti‑discrimination rules.

Empower has argued that the registration requirements are overly burdensome and has pushed for legislation exempting it from some of those rules.

In a statement to WTOP, Empower said it condemns any harassment of former Councilmember McDuffie or his family.

“Over the past several months, Empower made repeated good‑faith requests to meet with former Councilmember McDuffie regarding a critical pocketbook issue affecting hundreds of thousands of District residents. When those repeated requests went unanswered, the company informed Mr. McDuffie that it would publicly communicate where he stands on this issue and encourage D.C. residents to communicate to him where they stand,” the company said in a statement.

“Given the close ties between his campaign and Uber, it’s not surprising that Mr. McDuffie would view having to discuss his position on affordable transportation and the right of drivers to work for themselves instead of for Uber as a threat to his campaign.”

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