Jamaal Bowman Says Jewish Money Helped ‘Brainwash’ Voters Into Opposing Him

‘Squad’ member fell to primary challenger George Latimer by nearly 20 points

After losing his primary campaign against Westchester County executive George Latimer by nearly 20 points, “Squad” member Rep. Jamaal Bowman (D., N.Y.) claimed a “super PAC of dark money”—a reference to the American Israel Public Affairs Committee—spent millions of dollars to “brainwash people” into voting against him.

“We should be outraged when a super PAC of dark money can spend $20 million to brainwash people into believing something that isn’t true,” Bowman said during his Tuesday night concession speech. “Unfortunately, some so-called Democrats are aligning themselves with radical, racist, right-wing Republicans.”

Bowman routinely accused Israel of being an “apartheid state” and called reports of rapes and child murders by Hamas “propaganda and lies.” He also called his district “segregated,” citing “certain places where the Jews live and concentrate.”

During a primary debate held earlier this month, Latimer criticized Bowman for accepting support from groups outside of his New York district, saying Bowman’s primary “constituency” is “Dearborn, Michigan,” and “San Francisco, California.” Bowman accused Latimer of deploying an Islamophobic dog whistle—and then thanked Dearborn and San Francisco during his concession speech.

“You don’t understand what the Muslim community specifically did in this race,” he said. “The Muslim community—from Yonkers, to San Francisco, to Dearborn, Michigan.”

The embattled congressman was censured by the House of Representatives late last year for pulling a fire alarm during a congressional session. Bowman pled guilty to a misdemeanor charge and agreed to pay a $1,000 fine.