By Daily Mail (U.S.) | Created at 2024-11-19 17:02:24 | Updated at 2024-11-26 00:43:59
6 days ago
Congresswoman Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez is facing backlash for suggesting a pro-Israel lobbying group in the United States is to blame for Democrats' devastating losses in the 2024 election.
'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,' the progressive Squad member wrote on X.
AIPAC, which stands for American Israel Public Affairs Committee, is a pro-Israel lobbying group that spent millions ahead of the November election including against some progressive House members and in support of others.
The New York congresswoman was responding to post from Senator Bernie Sanders' senior adviser Jeremy Slevin.
He who wrote that it is 'weird' to have a discourse about 'special interest groups' and leave out corporate and industry lobbies which he said are 'by far the most influential “groups” in the Democratic Party.'
But the response to AOC was fast and furious online with X users accusing the congresswoman of falling into a antisemitic trope.
'Maybe stop blaming Jews for your problems,' wrote conservative attorney Maria Medvin.
'AOC your Jew hatred is showing,' wrote another X user.
Congresswoman Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez came under fire for blaming AIPAC for Democrats' 2024 losses
The New York congresswoman's fellow Democratic lawmaker Dean Phillips slammed her comments in a response.
'If people want to talk about members of Congress being overly influenced by anti-pragmatic and anti-semitic interests pushing a wildly unpopular agenda that pushes voters away from Democrats…,' he wrote in a repost.
But others argued criticism of AIPAC does not equate antisemitism.
AIPAC spent on Democrats and Republicans in the 2024 election cycle.
But some of its focus was aimed out supporting challengers to several progressive incumbents backed by AOC with mixed results in primaries.
In response to Ocasio-Cortez's post, AIPAC posted the results of two primaries where Democrats it backed ousted progressive lawmakers primaries earlier this year.
Those races included Democratic county executive George Latimer who took out Congressman Jamal Bowman in New York and prosecutor Wesley Bell who ousted Congresswoman Cori Bush in Missouri.
Both Bell and Latimer won the general election in their safe blue districts.
AOC'S post on X that sparked backlash and accusations
AIPAC responded to AOC by touting the ousting of two progressive lawmakers in Democratic primaries by candidates it supported
Some criticized the congresswoman by pointing out there are thousands of interest groups, yet she focused specifically on AIPAC.
There were also four other PACs that spent more on candidates in the 2024 election cycle, according to the tracking organization OpenSecrets.
AIPAC also was not in the top 20 spenders when it came to lobbyist activities in 2024.
A Harvard-Harris poll from October found the vast majority of voters support Israel over Hamas, 81 percent to 19 percent.
At the same time, nearly seven in ten favored a condition ceasefire with Hamas based on the release of hostages and Hamas leaving power.
But when it comes to the campus protests that took place across the U.S. over the war in Gaza, 63 percent of voters said it was about saving lives in Gaza and not in support of Hamas.
