Rep. Cori Bush (D-Mo.) is accusing the American Israel Public Affairs Committee (AIPAC) super PAC, United Democracy Project, of distorting a photo of her in mailers pushing against her re-election.
“It is shameful that in 2024, our communities are still the target of such blatant racism in political campaigns, let alone in the Democratic primaries,” Bush told The Hill in a statement.
“The people of St. Louis deserve better than to see their first Black congresswoman racistly distorted into a caricature – I shouldn’t have to ask my opponent to condemn her biggest funders for running an ad like this and apologize to the people of this district .”
Patrick Dorton, a spokesman for the United Democracy Project, said in a statement to The Hill that the accusation that the images were manipulated was “completely false and absurd.”
Dorton said it is “an attempt by Cori Bush and her allies to divert attention from the fact that she is one of the least effective members of Congress, has lost tons of votes, has not passed a single bill, and has opposed President Biden in key issues.”
The interception first reported the images.
The mailer included a photo of Bush from a Missouri Independent article. The Intercept story showed an image of the photo used in the mailer. In that photo, Bush’s forehead appeared enlarged and his chin appeared more prominent. His skin tone also seemed paler.
AIPAC has targeted Bush in the primaries due to his open criticism of Israel’s war in Gaza. She is facing a tough primary challenge from St. Louis County District Attorney Wesley Bell.
The Squadron member called the ongoing war “Israel’s ethnic cleansing campaign” and earlier this year introduced the Ceasefire Now Resolution. Some of her rhetoric was met with backlash from other members of Congress, but also from constituents in her own district.
“I think [her] comments show a lack of understanding of the nuances and complexities of an issue that has literally been hundreds of years in the making,” Bell said when he announced his campaign. According to SludgeAIPAC helped raise two-thirds of the campaign funding for Bell.
The United Democracy Project spent a total of $7 million to unseat Bush.
This is just the latest incident in which a black politician has said his image has been distorted in political ads.
Bush previously claimed that ads from his 2020 opponent, former Rep. William Lacy Clay, who is also Black, darkened his skin.
In 2022, a company working for New York Rep. Jamaal Bowman’s (D) opponent ran ads this also darkened Bowman’s skin. Bowman was also targeted by AIPAC earlier this year and lost the primary.
During the 2020 Georgia Senate race, Republican ads darkened the skin of Senator Raphael Warnock (D). And former gubernatorial candidate Stacey Abrams’ campaign also accused opponents of darkening her skin tone in ads.
Justice Democrats, an election-focused coalition of progressive Democrats, said Bell should condemn the mailers and apologize to the people of St. Louis for “allowing his biggest funders to promote outright racism.”
“In the name of Wesley Bell, AIPAC is selling racist caricatures to attack Missouri’s first black congresswoman on a new level that is disgusting even to them,” Justice Democrats spokesperson Usamah Andrabi said in a statement to The Hill.
The Hill has reached out to Bell’s campaign for comment.
This story originally appeared on thehill.com read the full story
