Tipsheet

On Eve of Primary, Bowman Still Shows 'Never Ending' Obsession With Jews and AIPAC

Rebecca Downs
Rebecca Downs  |  June 25, 2024 8:30 AM

Tuesday brings us another day of primaries, including the U.S. House primary races in New York. The 16th Congressional District is particularly one to watch, where Rep. Jamaal Bowman (D-NY), a member of the Squad, looks likely to lose his primary against Westchester County Executive George Latimer. A major focus of this primary, the most expensive House primary race in history, has been the Israel-Hamas war, especially with Bowman's anti-Israeli remarks. Bowman's also gone after the American Israel Public Affairs Committee (AIPAC), using antisemitic tropes to do so. He also brought them up again in a post on Monday, the eve of his primary.

"Big-money groups like AIPAC don't like seeing people like me in power. That's why they're spending over $20 million to try and divide our community," one post from Bowman claimed, which included a clip of him raising his voice and gesturing wildly as he spoke about how he's called for a ceasefire in the Israel-Hamas war.

As he lamented the money being spent in the race, Bowman went on to say "but we all know our history, and we know when a black man speaks up, what do they do?! They try to tear it down!"

Bowman has not just gone after AIPAC as he did in May by claiming that AIPAC has "full control of this district, just like they now have full control of Congress--as they fund everyone in Congress." It's also been a common refrain of his to highlight how AIPAC funds Republican candidates who are pro-Israel. They also fund pro-Israel Democrats, including House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries (D-NY), another black man. 

More recently, during a debate last week, Bowman used similar language to claim AIPAC targets him for being a black man. As we covered in a piece not too long after that debate:

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The idea that AIPAC would oppose Bowman because he is "an outspoken person of color... an outspoken black man," is absurd and involves a display of playing the victim.

When Latimer went to counter that by pointing out that AIPAC supports black candidates, Bowman responded that "just because you’ve got a few black friends doesn’t make you an anti-racist organization," which seems to be painting not just AIPAC but also Republicans as racist. 

It's particularly rich that Bowman would use the "black friends" narrative when it was recently revealed by Jewish Insider that he asked a local Jewish leader in 2022 for pictures of the two of them so he could "show the world I’m friends with Jewish People."

Such a Monday night post from Bowman was enough to warrant a quoted repost from StopAntisemism, which has spoken out against Bowman before quite a bit leading up to this primary. "Jamaal Bowman’s obsession with Jews is never ending," the post shared, also expressing hope that the Squad member would be voted out of office.

There's indeed a good chance that Bowman will be voted out office. Both internal and non-internal polls show Latimer up by double digits, and with how heavily Democratic a district it is, Latimer will almost certainly win the general election in November. The betting odds also point to a Latimer win. 

Many of Bowman's most recent posts mention the money spent in the race. His pinned post, a campaign ad from June 13, references the idea of "the many vs the money." Another post from Tuesday, which shows all the support Bowman claims to have, mentions "They've got the money, we've got the many. And the many will always beat money."

The talk of "money" is just one recent example of Bowman and the Squad's noteworthy behavior as he desperately tries to get reelected. Over the weekend, Bowman and Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (D-NY) acted in a truly bizarre fashion at their rally in the Bronx, where Bowman's district is not located. AOC, as Matt covered earlier on Tuesday, only doubled down further on her bizarre behavior, taking shots at Fox News in the process.