Rep. Cori Bush (D-MO), who has been a vocal critic of Israel and its war in Gaza following the attack on Oct. 7, is hesitating to call Hamas a “terrorist” organization as she heads into a tight primary Tuesday.
“We were called terrorists during Ferguson,” Bush reportedly said. “Have they hurt people? Absolutely. Has the Israeli military hurt people? Absolutely.”
The congresswoman added that she doesn’t know enough about Hamas to classify them as a terrorist organization, but she personally believes they “qualify.”
“Would they qualify to me as a terrorist organization? Yes. But do I know that? Absolutely not,” she said.
“I have no communication with them. All I know is that we were considered terrorists, we were considered Black identity extremists, and all we were doing was trying to get peace. I’m not trying to compare us, but that taught me to be careful about labeling if I don’t know,” Bush continued.
Following Bush’s unwillingness to label Hamas a terrorist group, her spokesperson clarified the congresswoman’s comments to the New York Times, saying she does know that Hamas “is a terrorist organization.”
The spokesperson also said the “terrorist” label has been “weaponized by the far-right consistently to justify violence and, in this instance, the collective punishment of Palestinian civilians in Gaza.”
Ten years ago, in 2014, the unrest in Ferguson, Missouri, over the death of 18-year-old Michael Brown by a police officer helped launch Bush’s career as an activist and later enabled her to become one of the most centrist members of the House.
Bush had decried Israel’s military operations as an “ethnic cleansing campaign” and has been a leading voice in calling for a ceasefire in Gaza alongside her fellow “Squad” members in the House. She boycotted Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s joint address to Congress.
The Missouri Democrat also voted against a resolution to bar Hamas and anyone who participated in the October attacks from the United States.
CLICK HERE TO READ MORE FROM THE WASHINGTON EXAMINER
She faces a challenge from Democratic prosecutor Wesley Bell, who has the backing of pro-Israel groups and opposes Bush’s support of defunding the police.
According to FiveThirtyEight’s analysis of primary polling, Bell is currently beating Bush in the most recent poll by the Mellman Group, which showed him at 48% and the congresswoman at 42%.