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AOC points finger at AIPAC for election losses by Democrats across board

The New York congresswoman tweeted that the pro-Israel lobby’s “wildly unpopular agenda” pushed voters away from the party.

Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez
Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (D-N.Y.) speaks at a “Vota con Orgullo” (“Get out the Vote”) block party in Philadelphia on Nov. 3, 2024. Photo by Joe Lamberti for “The Washington Post” via Getty Images.

Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (D-N.Y.) appeared to blame the pro-Israel lobby group AIPAC for the losses by Democrats in elections this month, where Republicans won the presidency, the Senate and the U.S. House of Representatives.

The New York congresswoman posted on X that “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.”

AIPAC itself responded to the post with photos of candidates they endorsed beating progressive “Squad” members Reps. Jamaal Bowman (D-N.Y.) and Cori Bush (D-Mo.) in their respective primaries with the caption: “Fact check on what Democratic voters find popular vs. unpopular, AOC.”

Both primary challengers—George Latimer and Wesley Bell—won their respective districts’ general elections.

“If you are calling being pro-Israel a ‘wildly unpopular agenda,’ you have learned nothing from this last election loss,” posted Rep. Esther Panitch, the only Georgia state representative who is Jewish. “The American people REJECTED the far left’s bs claims against Israel.”

New York City Council Minority Whip Inna Vernikov, a Republican, posted: “Your little obsession with singling out Jews is called antisemitism.”

AIPAC endorsed numerous candidates across both political parties, most of whom won their elections.

The reversal “sends an unfortunate signal at a time of rising antisemitism and sustained efforts to isolate Israel economically,” Evan R. Bernstein, CEO of B’nai B’rith International, told JNS.
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