A report at the Independent about Ilhan Omar, the Minnesota congresswoman whose been roundly criticised for her antisemitism, falsely claimed that her opponent in her successful primary election victory was backed by AIPAC. The piece (“Ilhan Omar easily sails to victory in Minnesota primary after Squad members Bowman and Bush ousted from Congress”, Aug. 14) included this:
“[Don] Samuels, who is backed by the AIPAC, previously lost by just a few thousand votes to the incumbent congresswoman in the last election cycle.”
It makes the same claim again here:
“Her victory comes after the defeat of two incumbent “Squad” members this cycle: Jamaal Bowman in New York and Cori Bush in Missouri. Like Omar, the two are vocal critics of Israel and faced AIPAC-backed opponents…
However, as has been reported at multiple media outlets, Samuels was NOT backed by AIPAC in this election. In fact, the website of the pro-Israel lobby group, which includes a page listing every candidate they’re backing, does not include Samuels.
We emailed Indy editors, who upheld our complaint and removed the erroneous claims.
Here’s the first revised sentence:
Samuels previously lost by just a few thousand votes to the incumbent congresswoman in the last election cycle. AIPAC, the pro-Israel organization which backed challengers against other progressives, did not endorse her opponent.
Here’s the second revised sentence:
Her victory comes after the defeat of two incumbent “Squad” members this cycle: Jamaal Bowman in New York and Cori Bush in Missouri. Like Omar, the two are vocal critics of Israel; unlike the congresswoman, her colleagues faced AIPAC-backed opponents and also had other specific vulnerabilities in their districts which contributed to their respective losses.
The following editor’s note was also added:
