Rep. Lee, who represents parts of Pittsburgh and Allegheny County in Pennsylvania, is the first member of “The Squad” to face a 2024 primary challenge during the 2024 election cycle. Lee’s district is 72 percent white and 15 percent Black. Her decisive victory will likely signal how strong progressive power is currently and how voters view the current conflict in the Middle East. Rep. Lee supports Medicare-for-all, the Green New Deal and a ceasefire in Gaza.
AOC s visit comes at a time when the Biden administration is facing backlash over its “inability” to reach a ceasefire agreement to restore peace in Palestine.
Such critiques have put electoral pressure on Lee and other members of The Squad, an informal group of about nine progressive Democrats in the U.S. House of Representatives. With Lee's victory, three members have won renomination in solidly Democratic districts in March and April primaries, all but ensuring that they'll win reelection in November. The Squad's criticisms of Israel and its actions in Gaza in the wake of Hamas's October attack on Israel helped spur many of their challengers' campaigns back in the fall, and pro-Israel groups like the American Israel Public Affairs Committee could boost efforts to take down these progressive incumbents.
Leftist actor Michael Rapaport has come a long way since calling former President Donald Trump the "worst possible motherf ker we could have in power," referring to Melania Trump as a "dumb animal," and wishing ill on Barron Trump in March 2020. Rapaport, like various other Jewish liberals,.