‘I’m Coming To Tear Your Kingdom Down!’ Cori Bush Unleashes Stunning Rant Against AIPAC After Her Primary Defeat

Rep. Cori Bush (D-Mo.) attacked the American Israel Public Affairs Committee (AIPAC) in a fiery concession speech on Tuesday in which she blamed the organization’s influence on Democratic politics, vowing to “tear [AIPAC’s] kingdom down.”

Bush, a prominent member of the progressive group of congressional lawmakers known as The Squad, lost her bid for reelection to St. Louis County District Attorney Wesley Bell — who received substantial backing from AIPAC’s super PAC, United Democracy Project.

The PAC reportedly funneled over $7 million into Bell’s campaign, making Bush the second Squad member to fall victim to an AIPAC-supported challenger this election cycle.

After losing the election, Bush unleashed on the pro-Israel group in her concession speech:

Pulling me away from my position as Congresswoman. All you did was take some of the strings off. Let’s be clear. Let’s talk about what it really is. Because, see, now I don’t have to worry about some strings that I have attached as much as I love my job. But all they did was radicalize me, and so now they make me afraid. See, now they are about to see this other Cori, this other side, because let me say this, I just grew up a whole lot more over the last few weeks – just grew up a whole different way. And so what they are about to get, they think… I don’t think that anything, there is nothing that happens in my life that happens in vain. So this happened, it’s because it was meant to happen. And let me say, it’s because of the work that I need to do. And let me say this: AIPAC, I’m coming to tear your kingdom down.

Bush’s outspoken criticism of Israel, particularly her characterization of its actions in Gaza following Hamas’ October 7 attack as an “ethnic cleansing campaign,” has made her a target pro-Israel groups. Her introduction of the Ceasefire Now Resolution earlier this year further intensified the backlash, drawing criticism not only from her colleagues in Congress but also from constituents within her own district.

Bush’s defeat comes on the heels of another high-profile loss within the Squad. Last month, Rep. Jamaal Bowman (D-N.Y.), another outspoken critic of Israel’s campaign in Gaza, was ousted in a primary where AIPAC funded his rival. He, too, went on a rant against the group .

However, Jewish Insider’s senior congressional correspondent Marc Rod , who covered the Bush primary, noted that a “key complaint” by some constituents was that Bush was “unresponsive” – that she “didn’t answer calls or emails” and “didn’t show up in the district.” He added that some voters in both Bush and Bowman’s former districts believed they were “more focused on national profiles/movements than on their actual constituents.”

Squad member Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (D-N.Y.), in response to Bowman’s loss , called for a “real conversation about how a Republican — primarily Republican and largely Republican-financed — organization is playing and dumping money and playing an extremely divisive role in the Democratic Party.”

AIPAC, meanwhile, has defended its role in supporting candidates like Bell, arguing that it also backs Democratic candidates that align with its pro-Israel stance.