‘This is Shameful’: AOC, Moskowitz Spar After Florida Democrat Attacks Bernie Sanders

AP Photo/Jose Luis Magana

Rep. Jared Moskowitz (R-FL) took aim at Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-VT) on Wednesday over the progressive leader’s ongoing call to cut off aid to Israel amid its campaign against Hamas in Gaza, which has left tens of thousands dead.

Sanders reiterated his call to cut off U.S. funding for “Netanyahu’s war machine” on Tuesday, sharing a statement online and adding, “It is a dark day for democracy when the Senate will not even allow a vote on whether U.S. taxpayer dollars should fund Netanyahu’s war against the Palestinian people.”

Moskowitz replied to Sanders’s tweet, writing, “Bernie, now do AntiSemitism. Why so quiet?” Moskowitz was one of several Jewish Democrats who toured Columbia’s campus on Tuesday amid protests that have been widely condemned as anti-Semitic. He later joined CNN on Tuesday night and slammed Columbia’s lack of action in cracking down on the protesters and compared them to the Neo-Nazis in Charlottesville, Virginia who chanted to rid the U.S. of Jews.

Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (D-NY) hit back at Moskowitz, writing:

Sen. Sanders’ family was killed in the Holocaust. He dedicates his every moment to realizing tikkun olam.
His commitment to protecting innocents in Gaza stems FROM his Jewish values.
He and many other Jewish leaders deserve better than to be treated this way. This is shameful.

Moskowitz doubled down and wrote back, “My family was also killed in the Holocaust. In Germany and in Poland. My grandmother was in the kinder-transport. They also instilled values in me. It’s why I voted for aid to Israel and for aid to Gaza. We see each other at work, we are both better than doing this here.”

An hour later, Ocasio-Cortez replied with a screenshot of Moskowitz’s likes on Twitter which showed his account liking a reply to Ocasio-Cortez’s defense of Sanders by actor and activist Michael Rapaport. Rapaport wrote, “What’s the Hebrew translation for Fuck Off Lady?”

Ocasio-Cortez replied to the screenshot of Moskowitz’s call for civility and added, “Is that what this is?” Moskowitz’s account no longer likes the tweet.