Primary Challenger Bankrolled by AIPAC Says Jamaal Bowman Takes Money From Hamas

George Latimer offered no evidence to back up his allegation — and doubled down on his dark insinuations about Bowman.

At a Black History Month event in New Rochelle over the weekend, George Latimer said Rep. Jamaal Bowman, D-N.Y., whom he is challenging in a Democratic primary, was taking money from the Palestinian militant group Hamas, a U.S.-designated foreign terror organization. On Tuesday, Bowman’s campaign threatened to sueOpens in a new tab Latimer for defamation over the remarks and demanded he retract them.

Latimer’s comments came when a constituent, who requested anonymity for personal safety, approached the Democratic challenger with two questions: Why was he running, and why was he taking money from the American Israel Public Affairs Committee? AIPAC had recruited him to run for the congressional seat and, as The Intercept previously reported, is Latimer’s largest campaign funder.

When the constituent said Latimer was “taking money from the devil,” Latimer responded that Bowman was too — that the incumbent was “taking money from Hamas.”

The incendiary charge came in a Democratic primary where AIPAC is playing an outsized role in trying to oust a progressive member of the Squad. The flagship Israel lobby’s quest to unseat Democratic incumbents and replace them with centrist and moderate candidates who vigorously support Israel has become the most prominent theme of the 2024 primary season.

“It’s outright disturbing and dangerous that he has doubled down on his Islamophobic comments,” Bowman said in a statement to The Intercept. “He should apologize to a community he continues to vilify and endanger, not double down on hatred.”

Latimer had offered his broadside against Bowman with little proof. Challenged on the comment, which was first reported by the website Black WestchesterOpens in a new tab, the constituent asked Latimer to offer proof and Latimer took their email. AJ Woodson, who runs Black Westchester and wrote the article, confirmed the constituent’s account of the remarks, which Woodson witnessed from several feet away.