A coalition of black and Jewish leaders are spending $1 million to unseat radical Squad member Rashida Tlaib. They are backing Detroit City Clerk Janice Winfrey in the redrawn 12th congressional district, which includes more conservative areas of Livonia and the city of Dearborn, which is home to the nation’s largest population of Arab Americans.
The Urban Empowerment Action PAC (UEA) is “dedicated to the educational empowerment and economic uplift of Black communities,” according to a release announcing the effort to unseat Tlaib. Tlaib, a notorious anti-Semite and supporter of Palestinian terrorism, has riled many members of her own caucus for her unabashed hatred of Israel. She sponsored a resolution recognizing the Nakba — the movement of Palestinians during the 1948 Israeli war for independence — and is at the heart of the Palestinian’s bogus “right of return” claims.
She has also been a consistent critic of Joe Biden, which hasn’t sat well with a lot of mainstream Democrats.
Tlaib, one of the most liberal and outspoken members of the House Democratic Caucus, has also been a persistent critic of President Joe Biden, delivering her own rebuttal to his State of Union address in March. She was also a “no” vote on Biden’s bipartisan infrastructure bill that was signed into law at the end of last year.
The two-term congresswoman said she voted against it because Democrats were reneging on a promise to pass that legislation alongside an expansive climate and social spending bill, commonly referred to as Build Back Better. By separating the two, she argued, progressives lost their leverage. And to date, Build Back Better remains stalled.
TV personality Bakari Sellers is backing the new PAC, saying he wants to see the size of the Black Caucus grow and is backing Winfrey because “We are hoping that we can have a candidate that doesn’t have varying distractions,” he told Politico.
The UEA has endorsed other less radical candidates including Georgia Rep. Nikema Williams, a freshman who fought off a radical challenger.
The UEA’s endorsement comes amid fears that Detroit, the nation’s largest majority-Black city, may not have a single Black representative in the next Congress with the retirement of Rep. Brenda Lawrence.
The PAC spent $55,000 supporting freshman Rep. Nikema Williams (D-Ga.) in her primary, which she won earlier this week. Williams is the only incumbent on UEA PAC’s initial list of candidates it’s backing. Three others are seeking open seats in Illinois, Florida and California.
Tlaib, however, is the only incumbent being challenged on the PAC’s initial list of targets.
And the list of more moderate Democrats is shrinking, Five-term moderate congressman Kurt Schrader lost a squeaker to radical challenger Jamie McLeod-Skinner, and nine-term Texas congressman Henry Cuellar is locked in a primary runoff with radical Jessica Cisneros. Cuellar currently has a 175 vote lead with several thousand votes yet to be counted.
The UEA may be bucking the trend toward radicalism, but they have a long way to go.
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