{"id":705372,"date":"2022-06-17T21:18:42","date_gmt":"2022-06-17T21:18:42","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/theintercept.com\/?p=400046"},"modified":"2022-06-17T21:18:42","modified_gmt":"2022-06-17T21:18:42","slug":"nancy-pelosi-rebukes-aipac-ads-against-donna-edwards","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/radiofree.asia\/2022\/06\/17\/nancy-pelosi-rebukes-aipac-ads-against-donna-edwards\/","title":{"rendered":"Nancy Pelosi Rebukes AIPAC Ads Against Donna Edwards"},"content":{"rendered":"
The latest foray<\/u> into Democratic Party primaries by the American Israel Public Affairs Committee, or AIPAC, is targeting former Maryland Rep. Donna Edwards: a progressive who is running to represent Maryland\u2019s 4th Congressional District, a seat she held from 2008 to 2017.<\/p>\n
The contest between Edwards and corporate attorney Glenn Ivey had been relatively quiet. This week, the race was upended when United Democracy Project, an AIPAC-aligned super PAC that has spent millions to thwart the campaigns<\/a> of progressive women of color, put big money behind an ad<\/a> accusing Edwards of poor constituent services during her previous tenure in Congress.<\/p>\n\n On Friday, Edwards\u2019s campaign held a press conference outside the headquarters of the Amalgamated Transit Union Local 689 \u2014 one of several local labor unions that have endorsed her bid \u2014 where Edwards blasted Ivey for accepting hundreds of thousands of dollars in outside spending from \u201ccorporate interests that are fueled by AIPAC.\u201d After Edwards condemned AIPAC and its allies\u2019 intervention, a number of her supporters \u2014 including elected officials, labor leaders, and constituents \u2014 also rebuked the ad\u2019s content. One critic, in particular, stood out: House Speaker Nancy Pelosi, D-Calif.<\/p>\n In a video<\/a> recorded this week in response to AIPAC\u2019s attacks, Pelosi dismissed the new ad\u2019s claims against Edwards. \u201cShe was one of the most effective members in Congress,\u201d Pelosi says in the video. \u201cDonna fought hard for Prince George’s County \u2014 for jobs and investments in her community, to help constituents in need and to deliver results.\u201d<\/p>\n Pelosi, a Maryland native who endorsed Edwards in May, is a long-standing ally of AIPAC and aligned pro-Israel forces. She attends the group\u2019s yearly conferences<\/a> and rarely departs from its hawkish pro-occupation stances.<\/p>\n In a spate of competitive Democratic primaries between progressives and moderates this election cycle, AIPAC has reliably weighed in<\/a> on the side of the moderate \u2014 including those with spotty records on abortion and gun rights. Pelosi had declined to weigh in on some of the races and, in others, supported the AIPAC-backed moderates.<\/p>\n Liberal pro-Israel group J Street, which has supported Edwards in past elections, identified at least $1.5 million in upcoming ad spending over the next week \u2014 nearly $200,000 a day. They expect that number to increase dramatically in the run-up to the July 19 primary. If that happens, Edwards may face more outside spending from pro-Israel groups than any other candidate this cycle.<\/p>\n