AOC: AIPAC pushes voters away from Democrats, overly influences Congress members

US Congresswoman Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez took to Twitter/X on Sunday, where she claimed that the American Israel Public Affairs Committee (AIPAC) overly influences members of Congress and that the PAC pushes voters away from the Democratic party.

“If people want to talk about members of Congress being overly influenced by a special interest group pushing a wildly unpopular agenda that pushes voters away from Democrats, then they should be discussing AIPAC,” she said. This post received 47 thousand likes as of early Tuesday morning.

Many saw her post as implying the PAC is responsible for the Democrats losing in the recent elections for the presidency, House, and Senate.

If people want to talk about members of Congress being overly influenced by a special interest group pushing a wildly unpopular agenda that pushes voters away from Democrats then they should be discussing AIPAC https://t.co/2o22CMMtqw

— Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (@AOC) November 17, 2024

The PAC responded to Cortez's statements by posting screenshots of election results throughout the country where squad members such as Jamaal Bowman and Cori Bush lost their primary election. AIPAC has endorsed politicians from both major political parties.

AOC's statement garners criticism

Many critics of her statement attack the idea she said that supporting Israel is an "unpopular agenda," with many pro-Israel users on Twitter/X citing a recent Harvard Harris poll that showed the majority of respondents saying they supported Israel over the Hamas terrorist organization. Others criticized the congresswoman for referencing antisemitic conspiracy theories such as Jews controlling the government.

Anti-Defamation League CEO Jonathan Greenblatt said in a quote post on the social media platform that it was "Unsurprising, but still deeply concerning to see AOC react to the election by blaming AIPAC for 'overly influencing' Congress and falsely claiming that supporting Israel is 'wildly unpopular.' 

"Scapegoating the Jews for one’s failure is unreflective and a truly pathetic and ugly tactic."

"You're reason 57 who Kamala & the Dems lost," said actor and pro-Israel influencer Michael Rapaport. "You're a liar, unqualified, and a race con artist," he continued.