“Squad” Rep. Jamaal Bowman claimed a pro-Israeli group backing his Democratic primary opponent is racist.
“That is why AIPAC’s [ American Israel Public Affairs Committee] is coming after us, coming after us with hate, coming after us with bullying, intimidation, and fear. You should see what they’re doing in my district,” Bowman said during a virtual town hall meeting on Monday.
After he claimed AIPAC members are lying about his record and calling him antisemitic, Bowman said, “They don’t like my style, I’m a little too radical, I’m a member of the ‘Squad.’ They want to call me the N-word, but they know they can’t get away with that, so they say everything else.”
Pro-Israel advocates such as AIPAC are backing Westchester County Executive George Latimer to topple the controversial two-term incumbent in the June 25 primary in the 16th Congressional District taking in southern Westchester and parts of the northeast Bronx.
Bowman, who is black, previously called Israel an “apartheid state” and initially claimed at a rally last year that reported rapes and child murders during Hamas’ October terror attacks in Israel were a “lie.” He later backtracked.
He’s accused Israel of “genocide” in the Gaza Strip in response to Hamas’s Oct. 7 invasion of the Jewish state.
“Rep. Bowman’s scurrilous and shameful attacks won’t hide his record of aligning with an extremist, anti-Israel fringe. We back candidates based solely on their support for the US-Israel relationship, and we have proudly endorsed dozens of pro-Israel progressives, including nearly half of the Congressional Progressive Caucus, Black Caucus and Hispanic Caucus,” said AIPAC spokesman Marshall Wittmann.
Bowman on Monday attended the virtual town hall alongside Reps. Ilhan Omar of Minnesota and Pramila Jayapal of Washington with the progressive group Our Revolution, launched by allies of Vermont Sen. Bernie Sanders.
His comments were first reported by the Washington Free Beacon.
The congressman, a former Bronx middle school principal, is part of the left-leaning “squad” that includes democratic socialist Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez and Michigan Rep. Rashida Tlaib, Massachusetts Rep. Ayanna Pressley and Omar.
Bowman also slammed the US as operating under “plantation capitalism” and a “caste system” that keeps minorities like him down during the town hall.
“We have the military industrial complex and warmongerers [sic] aligning themselves with special interests [and] racist, MAGA, election-denying Republicans to get the first black man out of this seat,” Bowman said.
A recent poll claimed Latimer led Bowman by 17 points — 52% to 35% — among Democratic primary voters.
The survey was conducted by the pro-Latimer group Democratic Majority for Israel.
Bowman’s campaign dismissed the poll as rubbish.
