Democratic Congressman Jamaal Bowman has threatened the American Israel Public Affairs Committee Political Action Committee (Aipac), the Israel advocacy group supporting his Democratic primary challenger.
"We are going to show f***ing Aipac, the power of the motherf***ing South Bronx!" Bowman said at a rally in the Bronx on Saturday.
"People ask me why I got a foul mouth. What am I supposed to do? You’re coming after me! You’re coming after my family! You’re coming after my children! I’m not supposed to fight back?
"We’re going to show them who the f*** we are!"
Representative Ritchie Torres slammed Bowman's profanity-laced rant at rally as "unhinged." Writing on X, the Democrat said, "The level of profanity here is so shocking as to be unbecoming of a Member of Congress.
"There is nothing in Jamaal Bowman’s unhinged tirade that remotely resembles the decency of the people I know and represent in the South Bronx," Torres went on.
Bowman was joined at the rally by fellow progressives, Representative Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez and Senator Bernie Sanders.
The race for New York’s 16th congressional district is hotly contested. Incumbent Bowman will run against the moderate Democrat, Westchester County Executive George Latimer, who is backed by Aipac.
It has been reported as the most expensive House primary in history, with over $23 million spent on advertisements.
A new lobby group affiliated with Aipac has upped its campaign spend, pouring $2m into the race to unselect Bowman, who has been critical of Israel.
Campaign finance documents released this weekend showedit had spent around $1m in support of Bowman’s opponent, Latimer, and $1m in ads against Bowman, according to the Guardian.
“Are we ready to take on AIPAC?” Ocasio-Cortez shouted at the rally to cheering crowds, “are you ready to win this country back?”
“Are we ready to kick some Wall Street ass? Because we are tired of having corporate lobbies trying to buy up our communities and sell them to us. We all know why we’re here,” the Representative shouted.
The politicians also led the crowd in a “ceasefire now” chant.
Bowman is part of the “Squad”, a group of progressive Democrats who have criticised Israel’s actions in Gaza.
Representing one of the largest Jewish populations in America, Bowman’s comments on the war in Gaza have sparked fury among some members of the community.
He was filmed calling Israel an “apartheid” state and claimed reported rapes during Hamas’ October massacre were a “lie.”
“There’s still no evidence of beheaded babies or raped women, but they still keep using the lie,” he said, according to a video first reported by Politico. After pushback, he retracted the comments and apologised.
