‘They Need to Be Afraid’: Cori Bush Says She’s Been Radicalized, Is Coming for AIPAC in Speech After Primary Loss

US Rep. Cori Bush (D-MO), one of the most outspoken critics of Israel in Congress, said she has become radicalized after her primary loss on Tuesday and is coming after the American Israel Public Affairs Committee (AIPAC), which put money into the race to oppose her re-election bid.

Bush — a second-term congresswoman and a member of the so-called “Squad” of far-left lawmakers in the US House of Representatives — lost her Democratic primary race to her more moderate and pro-Israel opponent Wesley Ball on Tuesday by just over 5.5 points.

In her speech after losing, she was defiant.

“As much as I love my job, all they did was radicalize me — and so now they need to be afraid,” she said, referring to AIPAC, the foremost pro-Israel lobbying group in the US.

Bush argued that by no longer being in Congress, she will have more latitude to say and advocate for what she truly thinks — no longer having to worry as much about how what she says will affect the Democratic Party as a whole. “Pulling me away from my position as congresswoman — all you did was take some of the strings off,” she said.

The lawmaker spent much of her speech focusing on AIPAC, whose mission is to foster bipartisan support for a strong US-Israel relationship.

“Let me say this, AIPAC: I’m coming to tear your kingdom down,” Bush said. “They about to see this other Cori.”

Cori Bush defiant in defeat: “All they did was radicalize me, so now they need to be afraid.”

“They about to see this other Cori, this other side,” she said. “AIPAC, I’m coming to tear your kingdom down.” pic.twitter.com/690T0aEhmZ

— Mark Maxwell (@MarkMaxwellTV) August 7, 2024

AIPAC spent about $8 million to help oust Bush after she, along with the rest of her colleagues in the “Squad,” took a sharp anti-Israel turn — particularly in the aftermath of Hamas’ Oct. 7 attack on southern Israel, during the ensuing war in Gaza.

The ads AIPAC spent money on were not primarily about Israel, but rather about issues more relevant to Bush’s congressional district.

White House press secretary Karine Jean-Pierre called the speech “incredibly unhelpful,” adding that “this kind of rhetoric is inflammatory and divisive.”

Jean-Pierre spoke of Bush’s comments within the context of overly-heated political rhetoric more generally as well.

“Look, the president has always been very clear — and very recently, after the assassination attempt of the last president — about lowering rhetoric, right? Lowering political rhetoric and the importance of doing that,” she said. “We’re going to continue to condemn any type of political rhetoric in that way, in that vein.”

Meanwhile, AIPAC celebrated Ball’s win. A spokesperson called it a “consequential victory” and said, “Once again, a progressive pro-Israel Democrat has prevailed over a candidate who represents the extremist fringe that is hostile to the Jewish state.”

Late last month, another “Squad” member, Rep. Jamaal Bowman (D-NY), lost by more than 17 points in the Democratic primary against a pro-Israel Democrat who was also supported by AIPAC. Bowman made calls for a ceasefire with Hamas and slamming AIPAC central messages in his campaign.

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