Rep. Cori Bush (D-Mo.), a member of the infamous "Squad" and a nauseating antisemite, was defeated in her primary to run in the safe Democratic First Congressional District, which encompasses the city of St. Louis and St. Louis County.
Bush lost to St. Louis County prosecutor Wesley Bell after pro-Israel groups poured millions of dollars into Bell's campaign to defeat her and her radical antisemitism was exposed during the Israel-Hamas war.
"The Many have spoken!" the American Israel Public Affairs Committee (AIPAC) posted on X after the race was called for Bell. "Congratulations to pro-Israel progressive leader @bell4mo on your big win against anti-Israel Squad member Rep. Cori Bush!"
Bush becomes the second Squad member to bite the dust. Rep. Jamaal Bowman (D-N.Y.), another radical antisemite, lost in his primary after AIPAC's United Democracy Project spent $15 million to help oust him.
A third Squad member, Rep. Ilhan Omar (D-Minn.), is locked in a tight primary race with Minneapolis City Council member Don Samuels, who came within two percentage points of taking her down in 2022. That vote will be held on August 13.
For Bush, her mouth was writing checks her campaign couldn't cash. She claimed that Israel was engaged in "ethnic cleansing" in Gaza. If true, Israel was doing an extraordinarily bad job of it. There were 2.3 million Gazans, and only a tiny fraction of them were killed by Israel trying to get at Hamas fighters who were hiding behind them.
The Justice Department is investigating Bush's use of the security services she contracted from her husband and for using campaign funds to pay him. That investigation is ongoing. But it's her statements on Israel that raised the hackles of Jewish groups and exposed her for the virulent antisemite she is.
Bush was one of two members of Congress to vote against a measure to deny entry to the United States to the Hamas terrorists who perpetrated the October 7 massacre in southern Israel, which left nearly 1,200 people dead and saw 251 taken hostage, sparking the war in Gaza.
In October, Bush called the Israeli retaliation an “ethnic cleansing campaign.” Soon after the Hamas attack, Bush wrote on social media that Israel’s “collective punishment against Palestinians for Hamas’s actions is a war crime.”
She has declined to call Hamas a terror group, saying that racial justice protesters in Ferguson were also called terrorists (though her campaign later walked that statement back). She endorses the movement to boycott Israel.
When Bush first ran for Congress in 2018, the Squad members were all representing safe Democratic districts. Thanks to lots of cash from radical progressive groups, they were elected to Congress, beating more mainstream Democrats due to that cash advantage.
But voters have taken a peek behind the curtain and don't like what they see. The Squad may be able to turn out the radical left, but other voters have largely been turned off by their radical left rhetoric and antics. Minnesota's endangered Squad member Ilhan Omar may well be the next radical left member to go down to defeat.
Samuels argues Omar is too divisive, especially when it comes to comments she’s made about Israel’s war with Hamas, which has taken a severe toll on Palestinians in Gaza.
Abbe Blacker hosted a meet and greet with Samuels at her condominium building in Minneapolis.
She takes issue with comments Omar made this year, suggesting some Jewish college students are “pro-genocide.” Blacker says it undermines who she feels she is as a Jew.
“We care deeply about all kinds of things, not just Israel,” Blacker said. “We care deeply about the horrendous conditions overseas in Gaza as well. We care about Palestinians. But the way it's been framed as pro-genocide is really offensive and hurtful to me.”
Are the radical left's days in the sun numbered? At one time, Reps. Omar and Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (D-N.Y.) were predicting a progressive tsunami that would dominate Congress for a generation. They never came close.
Now it appears that voters are getting tired of the schtick performed by the few surviving radicals. They may continue to win their elections. But as far as a "progressive wave" in Congress, that's not going to happen.
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