Anika Begay
Democratic Congresswoman Cori Bush’s criticism of Israel’s military actions in Gaza has in part prompted her primary challenger, U.S. Attorney Wesley Bell, to enter the race.
SCOTT DETROW, GUEST:
This week is shaping up to be one of the most important in the run-up to the November election. Vice President Kamala Harris is edging ever closer to deciding who will be her running mate, and the pair will make their first joint appearance at a rally in Philadelphia on Tuesday, the start of a weeklong tour of swing states. Renewed Democratic enthusiasm means Georgia could be in play again in November, and former President Trump rallied there last night. He used the opportunity to attack Georgia’s popular governor, Brian Kemp, as well as the state’s secretary of state, Brad Raffensperger, two Republicans who have notably refused to accept Trump’s attempts to overturn the results in 2020.
(ARCHIVED RECORDING SOUND)
DONALD TRUMP: Your governor, Kemp and Raffensperger, are doing everything they can to make it difficult for Republicans to win in 2024.
DETROW: But the presidential race isn’t the only race worth watching. There’s an interesting primary in Missouri this week. Democratic Rep. Cori Bush has attracted fans and foes alike for her vocal opposition to Israel’s war in Gaza. Pro-Israel groups have spent millions to support her primary challenger. St. Louis Public Radio’s Jason Rosenbaum reports.
JASON ROSENBAUM, BYLINE: It’s Saturday morning in a sprawling park in north St. Louis County, and Missouri Rep. Cori Bush and her allies are rallying supporters in what could be her toughest political test since she was elected to represent St. Louis’ 1st Congressional District in 2020. Bush is well aware that her early advocacy for a ceasefire in Gaza has led to a barrage of attacks from groups that support Israel. But with a critical primary against St. Louis County Prosecutor Wesley Bell looming, Bush has no regrets.
CORI BUSH: So no matter how much it hurts, you have to do what you were called to do.
ROSENBAUM: Bush was a leading figure in the protest movement that erupted after a Ferguson police officer shot and killed Michael Brown. She became known nationally for blending activism and public policy, most notably when she slept on the steps of the Capitol to extend an eviction moratorium. But her views on Israel became clearer after the Hamas attack on October 7. Some voters in her district, including some Jews, were outraged when, among other things, she vowed to speak out against what she described as, quote, “Israel’s campaign of ethnic cleansing.”
BUSH: What we were saying is that we can condemn Hamas and at the same time be concerned about the lives of the Palestinian people and not want to see them harmed as well.
ROSENBAUM: Israeli officials say the high civilian death toll is the result of Hamas hiding among noncombatants while it fights. Bush says he sees similarities between protests over police killings of African Americans and the movement to support Palestinian self-determination.
BUSH: I think it is essential to ensure security for Israelis and Palestinians and that there is a place where both can find liberation and freedom.
ROSENBAUM: Bush’s criticism of Israel’s military actions partly prompted Bell to enter the Aug. 6 Democratic primary. He has benefited from millions of dollars in advertising from groups like the United Democracy Project, the political arm of the American Israel Public Affairs Committee, or AIPAC. And while Bell says he’s a strong advocate for Israel, he says his goal is to better represent the district.
WESLEY BELL: His agenda has always been his own personal interests, while my agenda has always been the interests of this region.
ROSENBAUM: Few of the TV ads attacking Bush mention Israel. Instead, they highlight his vote against key items on Biden’s agenda, such as the federal infrastructure bill. That’s a similar strategy to one used by pro-Israel groups against New York Rep. Jamaal Bowman, who recently lost his primary to a Democratic challenger who supports Israel. Eryka Porter is a political consultant who lives in the 1st Congressional District. While she thinks the war in Gaza is important to the black voters who make up the majority of the 1st District’s population, she adds that other issues are more important.
ERYKA PORTER: I hear a lot of comments of discontent about the times she has strayed from Biden’s agenda.
ROSENBAUM: Bush says he voted against the federal infrastructure bill in 2021 because he wanted to vote first on Biden’s Build Back Better legislation, which included sweeping investments in child care, environmental and health care programs. And Bush supporters say the barrage of ads from pro-Israel groups that don’t mention Israel is part of a deliberate strategy because national polls show African Americans don’t rank support for or opposition to Israel high on their list of key priorities. John Bowman, a Bush supporter, says the barrage of attacks could backfire on the black voters Bell needs to attract to win.
JOHN BOWMAN: And that’s why we support people like Cori, because not only is she part of the community, but she’s part of the community and she has the passion and the heart to do the right thing.
ROSENBAUM: Bush’s future in Congress will depend on whether the black voters Bowman talks about continue to support and believe in her. If enough of them decide not to send her back to Washington, D.C., it could mark another titanic shift in St. Louis politics and a defeat for a prominent critic of Israel. For NPR News, I’m Jason Rosenbaum in St. Louis.
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