Sanders feuds with AIPAC over last-minute Rogers donations

Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-Vt.) and the American Israel Public Affairs Committee (AIPAC) feuded online Thursday over donations from the PAC to Republican Michigan Senate candidate Mike Rogers.

“AIPAC is now spending as much as $9 million against Abdul El-Sayed. AIPAC is why we’re at war in Iran. AIPAC is why the U.S. has supported genocide in Gaza. We must say NO to AIPAC,” Sanders said in a post on the social platform X.

“YES to electing Abdul as Michigan’s next U.S. Senator,” the Vermont senator added.

AIPAC responded to Sanders with a post mocking the senator’s comments.

“AIPAC is why your fantasy football team stinks. AIPAC is why the weather is bad. AIPAC is why you need an app to park. Say NO to Bernie’s obsessive scapegoating,” AIPAC’s post said. “YES to an America that works with our ally to create U.S. jobs, keep America safe, and promote democratic values.”

El-Sayed, the Democratic Senate nominee in Michigan, has expressed opposition to U.S. aid to Israel. The issue of American support for Israel has had significant prominence in U.S. politics in the past few years, especially with Hamas’s Oct. 7, 2023, attacks on Israel and the war in Gaza that followed.

Many have decried Israel’s actions in Gaza as a “genocide,” with the tens of thousands of Palestinians being killed in the conflict and the territory experiencing mass infrastructure destruction and a humanitarian crisis.

The New York Times reported Wednesday that AIPAC had recently begun giving money to a super PAC backing Rogers, aiming to possibly give millions of dollars, two sources told the outlet.