Second claim of millions offered for run against US representative Rashida Tlaib

AIPAC, the Israeli lobby in the United States, appears to be having a hard time finding a Democratic candidate to run in the 2024 primary against Representative Rashida Tlaib.

This week, Nasser Beydoun, a Michigan Democrat running for US Senate, announced that the American Israel Public Affairs Committee had offered him US$20 million to run against the progressive congresswoman, which would make him the second US Senate candidate from Michigan after Hill Harper earlier this month, to be offered that amount to join the 2024 House race in Tlaib's district.

Though Harper claimed it was an AIPAC donor who had made him the offer, Beydoun pointed directly at the pro-Israel lobby group in his public statement. AIPAC has denied any involvement in these matters.

"It's pretty obvious AIPAC is desperate to put up anyone they can against Rashida. If you offer enough people twenty million, someone's going to come around," Connor Farrell, founder and CEO of the progressive fundraising group Left Rising, told The New Arab.

Beydoun took to social media to air his frustrations on Monday, writing on X, formerly Twitter, "I was offered $20 million to withdraw from the senatorial race and to run against my friend @rashidatlaib. Even knowing where I stand on AIPAC's influence on our elections and foreign policy, the pro-Israel lobby had the nerve to suggest that I would even consider taking a dime from them."

He decried the massive spending on US elections, characterising the system as only working for the wealthy and powerful.

"This goes to show how easily an election can be bought and paid for in this country. Our country's campaign finance system is broken, and the only people it benefits are the rich and powerful," he wrote. He emphasised, "I will not be bought. I will not back down. I will continue to run a grassroots campaign that puts America and its working class first."

These allegations come as AIPAC has been ramping up efforts to back candidates to run in the Democratic primaries against progressives who have been outspoken in their criticism of Israel, particularly during Israel's ongoing war in Gaza.

The pro-Israel lobby, through its political action committees, has already announced the backing of establishment Democratic candidates against other progressives, including Ilhan Omar, Cori Bush and Summer Lee. 

Tlaib, however, might prove to be a tough incumbent to unseat, given her popularity in her deep-blue district, which includes the Arab-majority city of Dearborn. In her last primary in 2022, she won around 60 per cent of the vote, and in the general election, she won 70 per cent.

"That's why the Democratic primary is so important. No Republican is going to win there," J. Miles Coleman, associate editor of Sabato's Crystal Ball at the University of Virginia Center for Politics, told TNA. 

As for Beydoun, on Tuesday, 28 November, he appeared to make a point of distancing himself from AIPAC even further when he urged his followers on X to donate to the US Campaign for Palestinian Rights on the Occasion of Giving Tuesday (the annual charity day following Black Friday).

He wrote, "Please give generously to support such an incredible organisation that has been doing amazing work over the years fighting for the human rights of our Palestinian brothers and sisters."