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‘They Need to Be Afraid’: Cori Bush Says She’s Been Radicalized, Is Coming for AIPAC in Speech After Primary Loss
US Rep. Cori Bush (D-MO) raises her fist as US Rep. Rashida Tlaib (D-MI) addresses a pro-Hamas demonstration in Washington, DC. Photo: Reuters/Allison Bailey
US Rep. Cori Bush (D-MO), one of the most outspoken critics of Israel in Congress, said she has become radicalized after her primary loss on Tuesday and is coming after the American Israel Public Affairs Committee (AIPAC), which put money into the race to oppose her re-election bid.
Bush — a second-term congresswoman and a member of the so-called “Squad” of far-left lawmakers in the US House of Representatives — lost her Democratic primary race to her more moderate and pro-Israel opponent Wesley Ball on Tuesday by just over 5.5 points.
In her speech after losing, she was defiant.
“As much as I love my job, all they did was radicalize me — and so now they need to be afraid,” she said, referring to AIPAC, the foremost pro-Israel lobbying group in the US.
Bush argued that by no longer being in Congress, she will have more latitude to say and advocate for what she truly thinks — no longer having to worry as much about how what she says will affect the Democratic Party as a whole. “Pulling me away from my position as congresswoman — all you did was take some of the strings off,” she said.
The lawmaker spent much of her speech focusing on AIPAC, whose mission is to foster bipartisan support for a strong US-Israel relationship.
“Let me say this, AIPAC: I’m coming to tear your kingdom down,” Bush said. “They about to see this other Cori.”
Cori Bush defiant in defeat: “All they did was radicalize me, so now they need to be afraid.”
“They about to see this other Cori, this other side,” she said. “AIPAC, I’m coming to tear your kingdom down.” pic.twitter.com/690T0aEhmZ
— Mark Maxwell (@MarkMaxwellTV) August 7, 2024
AIPAC spent about $8 million to help oust Bush after she, along with the rest of her colleagues in the “Squad,” took a sharp anti-Israel turn — particularly in the aftermath of Hamas’ Oct. 7 attack on southern Israel, during the ensuing war in Gaza.
The ads AIPAC spent money on were not primarily about Israel, but rather about issues more relevant to Bush’s congressional district.
White House press secretary Karine Jean-Pierre called the speech “incredibly unhelpful,” adding that “this kind of rhetoric is inflammatory and divisive.”
Jean-Pierre spoke of Bush’s comments within the context of overly-heated political rhetoric more generally as well.
“Look, the president has always been very clear — and very recently, after the assassination attempt of the last president — about lowering rhetoric, right? Lowering political rhetoric and the importance of doing that,” she said. “We’re going to continue to condemn any type of political rhetoric in that way, in that vein.”
Meanwhile, AIPAC celebrated Ball’s win. A spokesperson called it a “consequential victory” and said, “Once again, a progressive pro-Israel Democrat has prevailed over a candidate who represents the extremist fringe that is hostile to the Jewish state.”
Late last month, another “Squad” member, Rep. Jamaal Bowman (D-NY), lost by more than 17 points in the Democratic primary against a pro-Israel Democrat who was also supported by AIPAC. Bowman made calls for a ceasefire with Hamas and slamming AIPAC central messages in his campaign.
The post ‘They Need to Be Afraid’: Cori Bush Says She’s Been Radicalized, Is Coming for AIPAC in Speech After Primary Loss first appeared on Algemeiner.com.
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After False Dawns, Gazans Hope Trump Will Force End to Two-Year-Old War
Palestinians walk past a residential building destroyed in previous Israeli strikes, after Hamas agreed to release hostages and accept some other terms in a US plan to end the war, in Nuseirat, central Gaza Strip October 4, 2025. Photo: REUTERS/Mahmoud Issa
Exhausted Palestinians in Gaza clung to hopes on Saturday that US President Donald Trump would keep up pressure on Israel to end a two-year-old war that has killed tens of thousands and displaced the entire population of more than two million.
Hamas’ declaration that it was ready to hand over hostages and accept some terms of Trump’s plan to end the conflict while calling for more talks on several key issues was greeted with relief in the enclave, where most homes are now in ruins.
“It’s happy news, it saves those who are still alive,” said 32-year-old Saoud Qarneyta, reacting to Hamas’ response and Trump’s intervention. “This is enough. Houses have been damaged, everything has been damaged, what is left? Nothing.”
GAZAN RESIDENT HOPES ‘WE WILL BE DONE WITH WARS’
Ismail Zayda, 40, a father of three, displaced from a suburb in northern Gaza City where Israel launched a full-scale ground operation last month, said: “We want President Trump to keep pushing for an end to the war, if this chance is lost, it means that Gaza City will be destroyed by Israel and we might not survive.
“Enough, two years of bombardment, death and starvation. Enough,” he told Reuters on a social media chat.
“God willing this will be the last war. We will hopefully be done with the wars,” said 59-year-old Ali Ahmad, speaking in one of the tented camps where most Palestinians now live.
“We urge all sides not to backtrack. Every day of delay costs lives in Gaza, it is not just time wasted, lives get wasted too,” said Tamer Al-Burai, a Gaza City businessman displaced with members of his family in central Gaza Strip.
After two previous ceasefires — one near the start of the war and another earlier this year — lasted only a few weeks, he said; “I am very optimistic this time, maybe Trump’s seeking to be remembered as a man of peace, will bring us real peace this time.”
RESIDENT WORRIES THAT NETANYAHU WILL ‘SABOTAGE’ DEAL
Some voiced hopes of returning to their homes, but the Israeli military issued a fresh warning to Gazans on Saturday to stay out of Gaza City, describing it as a “dangerous combat zone.”
Gazans have faced previous false dawns during the past two years, when Trump and others declared at several points during on-off negotiations between Hamas, Israel and Arab and US mediators that a deal was close, only for war to rage on.
“Will it happen? Can we trust Trump? Maybe we trust Trump, but will Netanyahu abide this time? He has always sabotaged everything and continued the war. I hope he ends it now,” said Aya, 31, who was displaced with her family to Deir Al-Balah in the central Gaza Strip.
She added: “Maybe there is a chance the war ends at October 7, two years after it began.”
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Mass Rally in Rome on Fourth Day of Italy’s Pro-Palestinian Protests
A Pro-Palestinian demonstrator waves a Palestinian flag during a national protest for Gaza in Rome, Italy, October 4, 2025. Photo: REUTERS/Claudia Greco
Large crowds assembled in central Rome on Saturday for the fourth straight day of protests in Italy since Israel intercepted an international flotilla trying to deliver aid to Gaza, and detained its activists.
People holding banners and Palestinian flags, chanting “Free Palestine” and other slogans, filed past the Colosseum, taking part in a march that organizers hoped would attract at least 1 million people.
“I’m here with a lot of other friends because I think it is important for us all to mobilize individually,” Francesco Galtieri, a 65-year-old musician from Rome, said. “If we don’t all mobilize, then nothing will change.”
Since Israel started blocking the flotilla late on Wednesday, protests have sprung up across Europe and in other parts of the world, but in Italy they have been a daily occurrence, in multiple cities.
On Friday, unions called a general strike in support of the flotilla, with demonstrations across the country that attracted more than 2 million, according to organizers. The interior ministry estimated attendance at around 400,000.
Italy’s right-wing government has been critical of the protests, with Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni suggesting that people would skip work for Gaza just as an excuse for a longer weekend break.
On Saturday, Meloni blamed protesters for insulting graffiti that appeared on a statue of the late Pope John Paul II outside Rome’s main train station, where Pro-Palestinian groups have been holding a protest picket.
“They say they are taking to the streets for peace, but then they insult the memory of a man who was a true defender and builder of peace. A shameful act committed by people blinded by ideology,” she said in a statement.
Israel launched its Gaza offensive after Hamas terrorists staged a cross border attack on October 7, 2023, killing some 1,200 people and taking 251 people hostage.
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Hamas Says It Agrees to Release All Israeli Hostages Under Trump Gaza Plan
Smoke rises during an Israeli military operation in Gaza City, as seen from the central Gaza Strip, October 2, 2025. Photo: REUTERS/Dawoud Abu Alkas
Hamas said on Friday it had agreed to release all Israeli hostages, alive or dead, under the terms of US President Donald Trump’s Gaza proposal, and signaled readiness to immediately enter mediated negotiations to discuss the details.