AIPAC
Vice President Mike Pence also criticized Democratic candidates for not challenging Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-Vt.) about his views on AIPAC and Israel during the Feb. 25 debate in South Carolina.
“This is a gathering of 20,000 Israel supporters of every religious denomination, ethnicity, faith, color, sexual identity and political party. Calling it a racist platform is an attempt to discredit those voices, intimidate people from coming here and weaken the U.S.-Israel relationship,” said Michael Bloomberg, directing his comments at Vermont Sen. Bernie Sanders.
“‘Israelis wake up every morning facing an existential threat from their neighbors,” said the former vice president, citing the constant threat Israel faces on its southern border with the Gaza Strip.
That Vermont Sen. Bernie Sanders has called the Israeli prime minister a racist means he “is either a liar, an ignorant fool or both,” says Israeli Ambassador to the United Nations Danny Danon.
Michael Bloomberg will speak at the annual conference, to be held March 1-3 in Washington, D.C., with the final day falling on Super Tuesday, when 14 states will hold presidential primaries.
Following the Democratic debate at the Charleston Gaillard Center, in response to whether or not she would attend, Klobuchar replied “No” to JNS, citing that the conference coincides with Super Tuesday on March 3, when 14 states will hold their primaries.
“As strong supporters of the U.S.-Israel relationship and AIPAC’s role in advancing it, we reject Senator Bernie Sanders’ outrageous comment accusing AIPAC of fostering bigotry,” begins the letter.
Marie Newman, running in a primary against incumbent Democratic Rep. Dan Lipinski in the state’s 3rd Congressional District, lost to him by less than 3 percentage points in the 2018 Democratic primary.
Pence to address audience at annual AIPAC conference
U.S. Secretary of State Mike Pompeo, Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-Ky.), Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer (D-N.Y.) and other members of Congress are scheduled to speak.
AIPAC said “by engaging in such an odious attack on this mainstream, bipartisan American political event, Senator [Bernie] Sanders is insulting his very own colleagues and the millions of Americans who stand with Israel.”
One ad had a collage featuring Reps. Betty McCollum (D-Minn.), Ilhan Omar (D-Minn.) and Rashida Tlaib (D-Mich.), saying, “The radicals in the Democratic Party are pushing their anti-Semitic and anti-Israel policies down the throats of the American people.”
“We offer our unequivocal apology to the overwhelming majority of Democrats in Congress who are rightfully offended by the inaccurate assertion that the poorly worded, inflammatory advertisement implied,” said AIPAC in a statement that it shared on Twitter on Saturday.
