Summer Lee | FirstOneThrough

Members of the far-left “squad” in congress like to portray themselves as for the working people in a grassroots movement fighting against the rich and corporations.

The data of where some of them rake in the money tells a different story.

According to collection records assembled by the non-partisan group OpenSecrets, only two members of the squad did not take most of their contributions from large donors, Ilhan Omar (42.2% from large donors) and Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (25.6% from large donors). All of the rest went for the big donor checks.

Summer Lee took in the vast majority of her fundraising – a whopping 71.5% – from large contributions. Rashida Tlaib was just behind her at 69.2% and Jamaal Bowman at 64.4%.

It is interesting to look at the overall fundraising for the candidates as well. AOC continues to be the major fundraiser as she’s been for years. However, this year, Rashida Tlaib and Ilhan Omar are close behind, likely because of Democrats funding the two Muslim members of congress who are upset about the destruction in Gaza (rather than disgust for Hamas). Cori Bush and Ayanna Pressley have barely been able to raise any money.

Taking the two charts together points to a frightening realization about Summer Lee and Jamaal Bowman: they’ve raised a small amount of money and it’s mostly coming from major donors. They are essentially “owned” by a few big contributors. For Bowman it’s worse, as most of the contributors are from out of his district.

Of course, Jamaal Bowman once again issued a boldface lie that 75% of his contributions are below $30. He’s a pathological liar, and an embarrassment to his constituents much like Rep George Santos was to his.

*Jamaal Bowman unhinged rant that “the Devil’s a liar” on the streets of Westchester*

As the left-wing extremists launch a “Protect the Squad” campaign with appeals for money, keep in mind that Summer Lee and Jamaal Bowman are the embodiment of unpopular, big money politicians who pretend to have the backs and backing of their constituents.

For a detailed review of New York’s Democrat and Republican spending in the 2022 congressional races, click here.

AIPAC’s Open Tent Versus Justice Democrats Niche Extremism (April 2024)

Congressional Socialists Won’t Support Israel After Hamas Massacre (October 2023)

Rep. Bowman Is A Liar. And Dangerous (October 2023)

Don’t Let AOC Buy Another Squad Seat (August 2023)

Please Don’t Vote for a Democratic Socialist (November 2018)

Megilat Esther tells a 2,400 year-old story of a raging antisemite named Haman who managed to obtain power of a king in ancient Persia. With this power, he managed to secure an edict calling for the genocide of the Jews in the kingdom. Fortunately his plan failed, due to people close to the king confronting the plan as well as having a history of doing good works for the emperor. The event is celebrated in the Jewish holiday of Purim, from the Hebrew word pur, meaning lottery, as Haman chose the date for genocide randomly.

There are lessons to be gleaned for diaspora Jewry, and it is the exact opposite of randomness and involves a topic of which many are uncomfortable: power.

There have always been, and will always be, antisemites who seek to kill Jews. What differentiates the rouge madman from a Haman or Hitler is power. Hamas achieved its October 7 barbarity as the democratically-elected majority party in the Palestinian parliament which has had complete rule over Gaza since 2007. Evil ideology plus power is a grave threat to Jews.

Therefore, it is incumbent on Jews to befriend people in power, to keep bad people from obtaining power, and to perform good deeds at all times that benefit society.

In the United States, the broken election system has fostered a political class increasingly made up of extremists. Whether right-wing or left-wing, they often come for Jews. This primary season, it is imperative to support the challengers of the extremist incumbents in congress:

In NY-16, extremist Rep. Jamaal Bowman is being challenged by Westchester County Executive George Latimer. Donate to Latimer here.
In MO-1, extremist Rep. Cori Bush is being challenged by public defender Wesley Bell. Donate to Bell here.
In MN-05, extremist Rep. Ilhan Omar is being challenged by Minneapolis City Council member Don Samuels. Donate to Samuels here.
In PA-12, extremist Summer Lee is being challenged by local legislator Bhavini Patel. Donate to Patel here.

There are other extremists like antisemite Rep. Rashida Tlaib in Michigan, but she is running unopposed. It is nevertheless important to share her vile antisemitism and extremism widely, especially as the liberal press gives her a large platform.

*Members of the extremist “squad” including Reps. Bowman, Omar, Pressley, Bush, Lee*

There is a reason that this war in Israel feels much more frightening for American Jews: your local antisemites feel empowered by an increasingly anti-factual, anti-Jewish school curricula and by shrill antisemites in positions of power. We are not powerless to stem the tide of hatred. Work to get them out of power in the upcoming primaries.