“Squad” Rep. Summer Lee (D-PA) is being targeted by the richest man in Pennsylvania, who is funding a super PAC targeting her.
Billionaire Jeff Yass, a GOP megadonor, gave $1 million to the Moderate PAC in 2022. The super PAC supports centrist Democratic candidates and is working to unseat Lee. Speaking with Politico, Moderate PAC President Ty Strong revealed that Yass had donated an even greater sum to the group, though he didn’t disclose the exact amount.
“I went to Jeff Yass and made a proposal,” Strong said. “He knew nothing about Summer. … He’s a really wealthy guy, so he made a donation in line with his wealth. But there’s other Pittsburgh people that are now seeing this and doing the same thing. And so it’s not Jeff Yass, it’s me and Pittsburgh who realized that this far-left member shouldn’t be representing a D-plus-eight district.”
The super PAC head said that Yass himself is more of a centrist, and told him that he likes certain Democrats, including Bhavini Patel, who is running against Lee.
“He’s obviously painted a certain way in the media,” said Strong, a former financial analyst. “But I realized that what he really cares about is that he’s a libertarian, but he’s also free market. And so with my economic background, I kind of talked about that. … He does like certain Democrats, and he likes Bhavini as a Democrat.”
In a statement obtained by the outlet, Lee bashed Moderate PAC over its acceptance of funds from an “extremist” like Yass.
“I am never going to stop defending our abortion rights, protecting our public schools, or demanding billionaires pay their fair share, so I welcome being an enemy to an extremist like Jeffrey Yass,” she said.
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One of Yass’s main gripes against Lee is her stance on the war in Gaza; she has emerged as a prominent critic of Israel’s actions. Yass is a longtime supporter of Israel.
Lee was one of the few members of Congress to wear the Palestinian resistance keffiyeh to President Joe Biden’s State of the Union address.