Rep. Cori Bush, D-Mo., lost her reelection bid during Missouri’s primary elections on Tuesday, making her the second “Squad” member to receive the pink slip from voters this year.
With 99 percent of votes tabulated as of publication, Wesley Bell is projected to be the Democrat nominee in the battle for the Show Me State’s 1st Congressional District this November. Preliminary results show Bell won 51.2 percent of the vote, with Bush finishing second with 45.6 percent.
Democrats Maria Chappelle-Nadal and Ron Harshaw are projected to finish third and fourth, respectively.
Bush’s ouster came weeks after her fellow “Squad” member and Democrat Rep. Jamaal Bowman lost his reelection bid during New York’s June 25 primary elections.
Polls correctly predicted Bush’s defeat in the weeks leading up to Tuesday’s race. A Mellman Group survey conducted from July 21-24, for example, found Bell leading Bush by 6 points (48 to 42 percent).
The Mellman Group commissioned the surveys on behalf of the Democratic Majority for Israel PAC, which aims to elect what it claims are “pro-Israel” Democrats to elected office. The group endorsed Bell during the primary election, according to its website.
Bush has been a vocal critic of Israel and its military response to Hamas’ deadly Oct.7 attack. The soon-to-be-former congresswoman called for a “ceasefire” soon after Israel invaded Gaza and has since accused the world’s lone Jewish State of committing “genocide” against Palestinians in the region.
When boycotting Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s recent address to Congress, Bush accused those in attendance of “continuing to green-light genocide” and “actively celebrating the man at the forefront of that genocide,” according to Newsweek. She also refused to condemn a statement issued by the Democratic Socialists of America that referred to Israel as an “apartheid regime.”
Since riding the wave of Black Lives Matter anger to win elected office in 2020, Bush has also used her platform to advance divisive racial politics. She’s openly accused Donald Trump of being the “face of a movement of white supremacy” and baselessly claimed a Missouri couple who defended their property from unruly Black Lives Matter demonstrators of being “white supremacists.”
Despite supporting leftist efforts to “defund the police,” Bush has maintained her own private security detail.
“Iām going to make sure I have security because I know I have had attempts on my life, and I have too much work to do. There are too many people that need help right now for me to allow that,ā Bush claimed.