AIPAC attacked Democrat Tom Malinowski for funding ICE. Now it's backing Haley Stevens who voted the same way.

[Celerity]

The pro-Israel group’s super PAC has spent more than $10 million in the Michigan race, supporting Haley Stevens against Abdul El-Sayed

https://forward.com/news/835898/aipac-michigan-senate-haley-stevens-ice/


U.S. Rep. and Seante candidate Haley Stevens (D-MI) on May 1. Photo by Sarah Rice/Getty Images

AIPAC’s super PAC is spending big to boost Rep. Haley Stevens in Michigan’s Democratic Senate primary — over a record that includes the same ICE funding vote the group used to attack a different Democrat earlier this year. Stevens is one of two leading candidates in the August primary, running against progressive insurgent Abdul El-Sayed, who called the Israeli government “evil” like Hamas. A third candidate, state Sen. Mallory McMorrow, ended her campaign on Sunday.

A new 30-second ad from AIPAC’s super PAC, the United Democracy Project, praises Stevens for confronting Trump’s immigration policies — citing legislation she introduced to create an independent prosecutor for ICE misconduct, and her calls for then-Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem to resign. The ad is part of a multimillion-dollar campaign to boost Stevens, a longtime AIPAC ally, whom the group helped elect in 2018 and reelect in 2022.

But the message is hard to square with AIPAC’s own record elsewhere. Earlier this year, the group spent more than $2 million attacking former Rep. Tom Malinowski in a New Jersey special election for voting to fund ICE as part of a bipartisan border bill. “We can’t trust Tom Malinowski to stand up to President Donald Trump,” that ad said. Stevens voted for the same funding bill. Last June, she also voted for a House resolution thanking ICE agents “for protecting the homeland.”

An AIPAC spokesperson and a UDP representative did not immediately respond to explain why the vote to fund ICE was presented as a liability in Malinowski’s race but not in Stevens’ case. AIPAC has spent years cultivating ties to Trump-aligned Republicans, many of whom strongly support aggressive immigration enforcement. The Israel-boosting organization’s brand has become increasingly controversial among mainstream Democrats in recent years. Congressional candidates, including some Jewish Democrats, have promised not to take contributions from AIPAC.

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https://forward.com/news/828070/aipac-pro-israel-network-donations/