Cori Bush’s concession speech rant was "kind of Trumpian" and made her the "sorest loser," according to one Democratic strategist Wednesday.
On CNN’s "The Lead with Jake Tapper," former Obama campaign adviser Ameshia Cross reacted to footage of Bush attacking the American Israel Public Affairs Committee (AIPAC) after the Missouri representative’s loss to St. Louis County Prosecuting Attorney Wesley Bell in the Democratic primary the day before.
"AIPAC, I'm coming to tear your kingdom down," Bush declared Tuesday night. "And let me put all of these corporations on notice, I'm coming after you, too!"
"This is completely ridiculous," Cross remarked. "It was kind of Trumpian to a certain extent. The ‘tear your kingdom down’ thing is actually a well-known Black gospel song. It is not related in any way to talk about Satan. So she’s comparing AIPAC to Satan."
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Cross said she saw the same attack against AIPAC by Rep. Jamal Bowman, D-N.Y., another anti-Israel "Squad" member who lost his Democratic primary back in June. She similarly criticized Bowman.
"AIPAC didn‘t necessarily go after them specifically based on their votes that were anti-Jewish and anti-support of the nation state of Israel. They voted against them, and they pushed their money towards campaigns that the people on the ground would have resonated with specifically," Cross said, mentioning issues like Bush's votes on the debt ceiling and infrastructure.
She also attacked any efforts to paint Bell as less progressive on issues than Bush.
"As somebody who has, full disclosure, has been a longtime friend of Wesley Bell, I‘ve seen his work. I‘ve worked with him, particularly when it came to him being a progressive prosecutor and when he ran that race. He is not someone who is by any means a conservative. So seeing her come out and try to paint him as that I think was problematic," Cross said.
She continued, "In addition to that not fully understanding what was happening on the ground, I think that she swung way too far to the left and she was not willing to come back to moderate in any type of way and is probably the sorest loser that I’ve seen recently."
Bell’s campaign received a big boost from AIPAC's super PAC, the United Democracy Project, which spent $8.5 million to oust Bush.
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Bush added in her concession speech that leaving the legislature will cut the "strings" holding her back from fighting AIPAC in earnest.
"All they did is radicalize me, so they need to be afraid," she said.
