Anti-Israel ‘Squad’ member fighting for her political life receives support from House Democratic leaders.
House Democratic leadership endorsed Rep. Cori Bush (D-Mo.) on Tuesday in her competitive primary race against Democratic challenger and St. Louis County prosecuting attorney Wesley Bell.
Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries (D-N.Y.), Minority Whip Katherine Clark (D-Mass.) and House Democratic Caucus Chair Pete Aguilar (Calif.) said in a joint statement, “Cori has shown up for the people of St. Louis in the fight for reproductive freedom, gun violence prevention and affordable housing.”
The endorsement comes one month before what’s expected to be a closely watched primary race, set to highlight the different factions in the Democratic Party, particularly around the Israel-Hamas war in Gaza.
Bush has been among the progressive lawmakers most critical of Israel and its war tactics. Bell, on the other hand, says he supports Israel’s right to defend itself and pursue those responsible for conducting the October 7 attack, which sparked the ongoing war.
A recent poll shows Bush, too, could be in trouble. In a survey conducted in June by the polling firm The Mellman Group for the organization Democratic Majority for Israel, Bush trailed Bell by 1 point — 43 percent support to 42 percent — a difference well within the margin of error.
AIPAC raises money “to help oust anybody who does not stand 100% with Israel in the way that means that Israel has to be supreme,” Bush said at her campaign opener. Bush’s problem is that AIPAC’s campaign may be working, as per the DMFI poll.
“I have complied with all applicable laws and House rules–and will continue to prioritize the rules that govern us as federal elected officials,” she said at the time, adding, “in accordance with all applicable rules, I retained my husband as part of my security team to provide security services because he has had extensive experience in this area, and is able to provide the necessary services at or below a fair market rate.”
Less than two days after AIPAC spent $14 million in a successful bid to send Rep. Jamaal Bowman packing in New York, the pro-Israel powerhouse texted a message to its followers: Their next target is Missouri Rep. Cori Bush.
Bush, whose district includes St. Louis, has much in common with Bowman: Each ousted a long-serving establishment Democrat in a 2020 primary, and both are members of the far-left Squad in Congress. They are also both harsh critics of Israel, voting against emergency funding for Israel in its war against Hamas, and accusing Israel of committing genocide in Gaza.
Bush is under federal investigation for payments she made to private security, including to a security guard she eventually married. And she voted against US President Joe Biden’s landmark 2021 infrastructure funding bill. Pro-Israel advocates leveraged Bowman’s no vote on that bill against him.
Like Bowman, Bush has singled out her Jewish backers at campaign events to push back against the claim she does not represent the community. “You heard the progressive Jews of St. Louis up here, they understand my congresswoman is not antisemitic,” Bush said at the January event.
But like Bowman, she has fraught relations with much of the local Jewish community, earning an anguished rebuke from a broad array of Jewish groups spanning the political and religious spectrums last November when she accused Israel of ethnic cleansing.
