{"id":279763,"date":"2026-09-06T01:52:21","date_gmt":"2026-09-06T01:52:21","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/iran\/279763\/"},"modified":"2026-09-06T01:52:21","modified_gmt":"2026-09-06T01:52:21","slug":"democratic-lawmakers-erupt-after-anti-israel-journalist-calls-hakeem-jeffries-an-aipac-monkey-in-viral-rant","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/iran\/279763\/","title":{"rendered":"Democratic lawmakers erupt after anti-Israel journalist calls Hakeem Jeffries an \u2018AIPAC monkey\u2019 in viral rant"},"content":{"rendered":"

Anti-Israel journalist Rula Jebreal apologized “unconditionally” after calling House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries<\/a>, D-N.Y., an “AIPAC monkey” during an interview earlier this week, a remark the Congressional Black Caucus and several Democratic lawmakers condemned as blatantly racist.<\/p>\n

The comment came as Jebreal appeared on Wajahat Ali’s “The Left Hook” podcast<\/a> Wednesday and accused Jeffries, who is Black, of carrying out the agenda of the American Israel Public Affairs Committee (AIPAC) and blasted his support for Israel.<\/p>\n

“His name is Hakeem. ‘Hakeem’ is an Arabic name which means ‘healer.’ He’s not a healer, he’s a divider,” Jebreal said.<\/p>\n

Left-wing Podcaster Blasts Schumer, Jeffries As ‘Fascist Collaborators’<\/a><\/p>\n

\"Rula<\/p>\n

Rula Jebreal speaks during a conference on the situation in the Gaza Strip in Parma, Italy, July 3, 2025.<\/p>\n

“He is a bought and paid by AIPAC monkey,” she added. “With all due respect \u2014 and I don’t mean it in a racist way.” Jebreal continued, “He is just basically an errand boy, and we’re done and tired.”\u00a0<\/p>\n

Immediately following Jebreal’s comments, host Ali sought to clarify the meaning behind her remarks.<\/p>\n

Read On The Fox News App<\/a><\/p>\n

“I know you corrected yourself, Rula, but I just want to address it,” Ali said. “Using monkey to anyone Black, it has terrible racial connotations. But I think you caught yourself and said you didn’t mean it with any racial animosity.”<\/p>\n

“I didn’t,” Jebreal replied. “There’s these three monkeys \u2014 one, I cannot hear, I cannot see, I cannot speak. It reminds me of these three monkeys.”<\/p>\n

However, the Congressional Black Caucus<\/a> (CBC) rejected Jebreal’s explanation of her controversial comments, with other Democratic leaders following suit.<\/p>\n

“To be clear, there isn’t a non-racist way to call Leader Jeffries \u2014 a Black man \u2014 a ‘monkey’ or ‘errand boy,'” the group said in a statement<\/a> posted to X.<\/p>\n

Some Democrats Privately Disgusted By Hasan Piker But Are Afraid To Publicly Criticize Him, House Dem Claims<\/a><\/p>\n

\"Hakeem<\/p>\n

House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries, D-N.Y., speaks onstage during The New Power Structure: Black Politics in the Age of Resistance panel at the 2026 National Association of Black Journalists Convention at the Atlanta Marriott Marquis in Atlanta, Ga., Aug. 13, 2026.<\/p>\n

The CBC then pointed to Ali, the podcast’s host<\/a> and a staunch critic of Israel, adding, “This is what happens when we hold ourselves to such low standards for what’s allowable in our discourse \u2014 people get comfortable being openly bigoted.”<\/p>\n

“We have to stop platforming and trafficking in anti-Black racism, whether it’s on the political right or the left.”<\/p>\n

Dem Senate Candidate Makes Stunning Admission About Antisemitism In Her Party: ‘Dangerous’<\/a><\/p>\n

\"Rula<\/p>\n

Anti-Israel journalist Rula Jebreal attends the National Demonstration to Stop the Massacre in Gaza in Rome, Italy, June 7, 2025.<\/p>\n

Her comments also drew criticism from several Democratic lawmakers, who took to X to condemn the inflammatory statement.<\/p>\n

“Blatantly racist and offensive rhetoric \u2014 it should be condemned by everyone, across the political spectrum. Period,” Rep. Joe Neguse, D-Colo., posted online<\/a>.<\/p>\n

Democrats Condemning Hasan Piker As Backlash Spreads Through Party<\/a><\/p>\n

Rep. Ritchie Torres, D-N.Y., echoed the same sentiment, posting<\/a>, “Calling a Black man a ‘monkey’ is racist. Full stop.<\/p>\n

“If Wajahat Ali and Rula Jebreal were on the far right, no one on the far left would have any trouble condemning them for dehumanizing a Black man in racist terms,” he continued. “The silence is deafening.”<\/p>\n

Democrat Rips Hasan Piker As ‘Hack Who Thrives On Hate’ Over His Warning To American Jews About Israel<\/a><\/p>\n

After the clip circulated online, Jebreal posted an apology<\/a> to X.<\/p>\n

“I am disgusted and horrified that Hakeem Jeffries is taking money from AIPAC amidst Israel’s genocide in Palestine,” Jebreal wrote. “That said, a term that I used to describe him was inappropriate and offensive and should never have been used. I apologize unconditionally.”<\/p>\n

However, Jebreal’s attempts at damage control drew a skeptical read from Axia Public Relations CEO<\/a> Jason Mudd.<\/p>\n

“She reasserts the accusation first and tucks the apology at the end. That’s not confessing. That’s a closing argument with ‘sorry’ bolted on,” Mudd told Fox News Digital.<\/p>\n

Click Here For More Coverage Of Media And Culture<\/a><\/p>\n

“The podcast clarification and the written apology target two different audiences: One tried to survive the moment live, the other tried to survive the headline.”<\/p>\n

Click Here To Download The Fox News App<\/a><\/p>\n

Jebreal and Jeffries did not immediately respond to Fox News Digital’s request for comment.<\/p>\n

Original article source: Democratic lawmakers erupt after anti-Israel journalist calls Hakeem Jeffries an ‘AIPAC monkey’ in viral rant<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Anti-Israel journalist Rula Jebreal apologized “unconditionally” after calling House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries, D-N.Y., an “AIPAC monkey” during…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":279764,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":"","_share_on_mastodon":"0"},"categories":[33],"tags":[76201,2922,3700,76200,76196,14053,15905,76197,76193,1916,22475,1280,37,76192,76191,76195,70520,76194,76190,76199,76198],"class_list":["post-279763","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-israel","tag-unconditionally","tag-aipac","tag-ali","tag-d-colo","tag-d-n-y","tag-democratic","tag-fox-news-digital","tag-fox-news-digitals","tag-hakeem","tag-hakeem-jeffries","tag-hasan-piker","tag-house","tag-israel","tag-jebreal","tag-jeffries","tag-jeffries-as","tag-monkey","tag-rula","tag-rula-jebreal","tag-the-new-power-structure-black-politics","tag-wajahat-alis"],"share_on_mastodon":{"url":"https:\/\/pubeurope.com\/@iran\/117221598799262133","error":""},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/iran\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/279763","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/iran\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/iran\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/iran\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/iran\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=279763"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/iran\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/279763\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/iran\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/279764"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/iran\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=279763"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/iran\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=279763"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/iran\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=279763"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}