Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (D-NY) says the pro-Israel lobby is responsible for Democrats failing to flip the House and losing the Senate.
“If people want to talk about members of Congress being overly influenced by a special interest group pushing a wildly unpopular agenda that pushes voters away from Democrats then they should be discussing AIPAC,” Ocasio-Cortez posted on X.
If people want to talk about members of Congress being overly influenced by a special interest group pushing a wildly unpopular agenda that pushes voters away from Democrats then they should be discussing AIPAC https://t.co/2o22CMMtqw
— Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (@AOC) November 17, 2024
The “Squad” member was responding to a social media post written by Sen. Bernie Sanders’s (I-VT) adviser, Jeremy Slevin, in which he said special interest groups with ties to corporate and industry lobbies have too much influence on the Democratic Party.
AIPAC spent $53 million backing pro-Israel candidates this election cycle, and the super PAC spent $14.5 million alone to oust Rep. Jamaal Bowman (D-NY) in his primary. Bowman has been very wishy-washy about his stance on Israel, but he had accused the Jewish state of committing genocide in Gaza. AIPAC also spent $8.4 million to unseat Rep. Cori Bush (D-MO), another anti-Israel “Squad” member, in her primary.
However, Jewish writer Joel Petlin pointed out that most of the candidates supported by AIPAC are Democrats, calling Ocasio-Cortez’s attack on AIPAC antisemitic.
In fact, all 129 AIPAC-backed Democrats won their 2024 primary races.
“But AOC doesn’t want you to know that important fact because it would obscure her Antisemitic theory,” Petlin said.
Maud Maron, an education activist in New York, said that the Israel-Gaza war isn’t the only pressing issue voters were thinking about this election cycle.
“Every former Democrat I know is more concerned about the wildly unpopular agenda of the Teachers’ Union that closed our schools, masked our kids, lowers rigor, standards and accountability while teaching an ahistorical, hateful version of America, but go on with your Jew hating,” Maron wrote.
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While AIPAC noted that AIPAC-endorsed candidates have won in every district they appear on the ballot (a total of 322 races), Jewish Rep. Dean Phillips (D-MN) also said that Ocasio-Cortez and the rest of the “Squad” members’ stance on Israel was actually pushing voters away.
A poll taken in October found that 81% of America supports Israel over Hamas and that 76% of Democrats say they back Israel.