Former congresswoman Cori Bush, who is seeking to reclaim the Missouri seat she lost in 2024, is blaming the American Israel Public Affairs Committee (AIPAC) for her defeat and vowing to return to Congress despite the setback, JNS reports.
“AIPAC didn’t make me, so AIPAC can’t break me," she declared.
Bush claimed that “AIPAC and their allies poured $15 million into St. Louis last cycle to lie about me and silence our movement. They thought I would go away. But just like St. Louis, I never break."
She added that she is running again “to fight for all of us. For the people. For everybody who stands up against the forces trying to crush progress. I’m running for you," noting that the Aug. 4 primary is about “getting back stronger and louder to finish the work we started: lowering costs and protecting our neighbors."
Bush, a prominent member of the progressive “Squad" and known for her anti-Israel stance, lost her seat in the 2024 Democratic primary to Rep. Wesley Bell, a fellow progressive with pro-Israel backing, who went on to win the general election. Reports at the time indicated that AIPAC invested $8.6 million in the race to defeat Bush.
After Bush’s defeat, AIPAC congratulated Bell “for his consequential victory over an incumbent anti-Israel detractor."
Following her new campaign announcement, Bush accused Bell on January 14 of being “paid by big pharma, AIPAC and Donald Trump’s mega-donors."
Bush made similar comments in October, when she first announced her re-election bid, accusing AIPAC of targeting her.
“Because I spoke truth, they pushed back, attacked my name, my motives, spread lies and hate," she said, as headlines of AIPAC’s spending appeared onscreen.
In October of 2023, after Hamas’s brutal attacks on Israel, Bush called for an end to “US government support for Israeli military occupation and apartheid."
Those comments, along with comments by other “Squad" members, were blasted by then-White House press secretary Karine Jean-Pierre, who described them as “wrong, repugnant, and disgraceful."
In the past, Bush accused the American government of funding the Israeli military in order to “police and kill Palestinians" and also refused to participate in an interview with the St. Louis Jewish Light.
(Arutz Sheva-Israel National News' North American desk is keeping you updated until the start of Shabbat in New York. The time posted automatically on all Israel National News articles, however, is Israeli time.)