MSNBC host Chris Hayes appeared to blame the pro-Israel lobby group American Israel Public Affairs Committee (AIPAC) for New York Rep. Jamaal Bowman's embarrassing primary loss on Tuesday, saying the race would have been a “tie” without him.
“[H]having spent a good amount of time with members of [C]”In Congress, a $14 million money bomb is totally crazy and there is simply nothing like it and no candidate anywhere with the ability to deal with it,” Hayes wrote in X, referencing AIPAC investing $14.5 million in the race to unseat Bowman, a far-left critic of Israel, from his position in New York's 16th Congressional District.
The race was quickly called for Democratic challenger George Latimer, with results showing a double-digit lead early Wednesday morning, a rare and lopsided rebuke of an incumbent by voters in his own party.
Bowman has been outspoken about his support for Palestinians amid the war in Gaza and has accused Israel of committing genocide in the region. In his campaign, Latimer argued that Bowman had lost touch with voters in his district, and Benjy Sarlin of Semafor pointed out to Hayes that AIPAC had focused on the race in part because of Bowman's weaknesses in the polls this year, as your embarrassing fire alarm. pulling incident.
A HOUSE DEMOCRAT BECOMES THE FIRST MEMBER OF THE SQUAD DEFEATED IN A PRIMARY BATTLE
The MSNBC host claimed that the American Israel Public Affairs Committee (AIPAC), which endorsed Westchester County Executive George Latimer over Jamaal Bowman for Congress, was the deciding factor in the race. (Getty Images)
“I think without AIPAC the race is probably tied and all the motivating factors you note are real and still in play,” Hayes wrote to Sarlin.
Hayes' opinion was quickly criticized, as critics pointed out that Bowman's problems in the polls were evident months ago.
“Bowman was down 17 points before AIPAC issued an announcement in this race,” Tablet's Noam Blum wrote to Hayes.
“AIPAC could never exist and there are still enough decent human beings living in Westchester County and the Bronx to be completely horrified that Jamaal Bowman would laugh and mock the rape of women and the killing of babies carried out by GoPro as 'lies' and 'propaganda.' He did it to himself,” added Jeff Blehar of National Review.
Bowman's loss Tuesday night to Latimer made him the first house member of either party being defeated by a rival in the primary so far in the 2024 election cycle. Bowman will also be the first member of the far-left “Squad” to lose his seat after Latimer snatched the Democratic nomination from him .
Bowman attacked AIPAC several times during the election campaign and said at a rally on Saturday that he would defeat the organization. AIPAC has become a boogeyman for anti-Israel progressives, who accuse it of having too much influence over politicians.
“Let's show fucking AIPAC the power of the fucking South Bronx!” Bowman said at the rally, which took place outside the congressional district boundaries. The 16th district does not include the South Bronx.
JAMAAL BOWMAN COMPLAINS HE'S BEEN 'BULLIED' IN PRIMARY CHALLENGE, HIS WIFE IS 'ANGRY' ABOUT IT
Bowman has been outspoken about his support for Palestinians amid the war in Gaza and has accused Israel of committing genocide in the region. In his campaign, Latimer argued that Bowman had lost touch with his own district. (Getty Images)
On Tuesday night, Bowman apologized for “sometimes using foul language” but said “we should be outraged when a dark money super PAC can spend $20 million to brainwash people into believing something that “It's not true. We should be outraged by that.” “.
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The Bowman and Latimer campaigns did not immediately respond to a request for comment from Fox News Digital.
Fox News' Paul Steinhauser contributed to this report.
