AIPAC super PAC accused of altering Bush’s appearance in ads

Rep. Cori Bush (D-Mo.) is accusing the American Israel Public Affairs Committee’s (AIPAC) super PAC, United Democracy Project, of distorting a photo of her in mailers pressing against her reelection.

“It is shameful that in 2024, our communities are still being targeted with such blatant racism from political campaigns, let alone in a Democratic primary,” Bush told The Hill in a statement.

“The people of St. Louis deserve better than to see their first Black Congresswoman racistly distorted into a caricature — I shouldn't have to ask my opponent to condemn his biggest funders for putting out an ad like this and to apologize to the people of this district.”

Patrick Dorton, a spokesperson for the United Democracy Project, said in a statement to The Hill that the accusation the images were manipulated was “completely false and absurd.”

Dorton said it is “an attempt by Cori Bush and her allies to distract from the fact that she is one of the least effective members of Congress, has missed tons of votes, hasn’t passed a single bill, and has opposed President Biden on key issues.”

The Intercept first reported the images.

The mailer included a photo of Bush from a Missouri Independent article. The Intercept’s story showed an image of the photo used in the mailer. In that photo, Bush’s forehead appeared to be enlarged and her chin seemed to jut out more. Her skin tone also looked paler.

AIPAC has targeted Bush’s primary because of her outspoken criticism of Israel’s war in Gaza. She is facing a tough primary challenge from St. Louis County Prosecutor Wesley Bell.

The Squad member has called the ongoing war "Israel's ethnic cleansing campaign,” and earlier this year she introduced the Ceasefire Now Resolution. Some of her rhetoric has been met with backlash from other congressional members, but also constituents in her own district.

"I think [her] comments show a lack of understanding of the nuance and complexities of an issue that's literally hundreds of years in the making," Bell said when he announced his campaign.  According to Sludge, AIPAC has helped raise two-thirds of the campaign funding for Bell.

The United Democracy Project has spent a total of $7 million to oust Bush.

This is just the latest incident in which a Black politician has said their image was distorted in political ads.

Bush previously claimed that ads from her 2020 opponent, former Rep. William Lacy Clay, who is also Black, darkened her skin.

In 2022, a firm working for New York Rep. Jamaal Bowman’s (D) opponent ran ads that also darkened Bowman’s skin. Bowman was also targeted by AIPAC earlier this year and lost his primary.

During the 2020 Georgia Senate race, Republican ads darkened Sen. Raphael Warnock’s (D) skin. And former gubernatorial candidate Stacey Abrams's campaign also accused opponents of darkening her skin tone in ads.

Justice Democrats, a coalition focused on electing progressive Democrats, said Bell should condemn the mailers and apologize to the people of St. Louis for “allowing his biggest financial backers to promote outright racism.”

“In Wesley Bell’s name, AIPAC is peddling racist caricatures to attack Missouri’s first Black Congresswoman in a disgusting new low even for them,” Usamah Andrabi, a Justice Democrats spokesperson, said in a statement to The Hill.

The Hill has reached out to Bell’s campaign for comment.