Outgoing New York Democratic Rep. Jamaal Bowman said Friday that he wishes he did not pull the fire alarm in the House office building in September 2023 and tacitly blamed his blowout loss in June’s primary election on Jews.
Bowman made the remarks in an interview with NY1. A member of the far-left “squad” Democrats, Bowman lost the Democratic primary for New York’s 16th district to Westchester County Executive George Latimer by 17 points, an outcome which pundits have attributed in part to Bowman’s antics and his outspoken opposition to Israel given that the district has a sizable population of Jewish Americans.
“I wish I didn’t pull that damn fire alarm, you know what I’m saying?” Bowman said during the interview.
The incident Bowman is referring to occurred in September 2023, when he famously set off the fire alarm in the House office building just before a key vote on a government funding bill was to take place. Bowman explained himself by saying that he thought pulling the fire alarm would open a nearby door.
Bowman then pivoted to talking about Israel and the role his opposition to its war in the Gaza Strip played in his ouster.
“My district is a super pro-Israel district. The minute I called for a ceasefire, that was the last straw with many in the district,” Bowman told NY1. “Because I beat [former Congressman] Elliot Engel, it was a target on my back from that community since then.”
The American Israel Public Affairs Committee (AIPAC) poured millions of dollars into Bowman’s primary race against Latimer to defeat Bowman, and Bowman repeatedly railed against AIPAC as a nefarious entity looking to boot him from Congress simply because he opposed Israel. Bowman notably characterized claims that Hamas raped women during the Oct. 7 massacres as “propaganda” in comments that he subsequently walked back.
“As a party, you should have never let a right-wing Democrat who’s a bit older challenge Jamaal Bowman in his primary, because that became a public execution for the country to see,” Bowman said, referencing himself in the third-person. “Democrats, you’re going to allow this black man to be attacked in this way, without any pushback, without any recourse?”
Featured Image Credit: United States Capitol Police
