Who?
Rep. Jamaal Bowman (D-NY) — Squad member
LISTEN: Laslo & Bowman
Ask a Pol asks:
Is The Squad on the ropes?
Key Bowman :
“Sh*t. The ropes? F*ck you talkin’ about, dog? What you mean, ‘the ropes’? We running 1,000 miles an hour. They tryin’ to figure out how to stop us, man. The ropes’ — you kidding me?” Bowman told Ask a Pol’s Matt Laslo. “I don’t know if we’re pullin’ no party or none of that, I know we're serving the people in our district. I know that.”
Caught our ear:
“I mean, historically, anyone who fights for justice what happens? People go after them, and so the power structure doesn't want, you know, voices like mine and Cori [Bush] and Summer [Lee], you know, fighting the way we're fighting — you know, without fear, with humanity and love in our hearts,” Bowman told us. “They don't want that, so they're going to come with the, you know, bring up some sh*t I did 15 years ago. You know what I’m sayin?”
Go Deeper:
Below find a rough transcript of Ask a Pol’s exclusive interview with Rep. Jamaal Bowman (D-NY), slightly edited for clarity.
TRANSCRIPT: Rep. Jamaal Bowman
Matt Laslo: “So your primary opponent is AIPAC?”
Jamaal Bowman: “Yes.”
ML: “Just 100%?”
JB: “What do you mean?”
ML: “I don't know, I was struck that you said that. That wasn't my question when I came.”
Laslo laughs.
JB: “Oh yeah. You know, they recruited him.”
ML: “Yeah?”
JB: “They're funding his campaign. They're funding the IE [independent expenditures] side of his campaign, helping them to recruit Republicans to switch from Republican to Democrat. He got $600,000 from AIPAC in the last quarter, half a million from Republicans. All his talking points come from them. They're trying to suppress my pretty damn good accomplishments, you know, for his empty calorie career. And so, you know, that's what they do.”
Bowman’s now got a handful of staffers gathered around him.
ML: “Sounds like…”
JB: “Subterfuge. Propaganda. You know, look here and it’s really over here. This is how they get down.”
ML: “So I’m curious, because when I started reporting this feature…”
Staffers and Bowman joke, so Laslo joins in.
ML: “…but, like, is The Squad on the ropes?”
JB: “Sh*t. The ropes? F*ck you talkin’ about, dog? What you mean, ‘the ropes’? We running 1,000 miles an hour. They tryin’ to figure out how to stop us, man.”
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ML: “Cause you feel you are pulling the party…”
JB: “‘The ropes’ — you kidding me?”
ML: “…in your direction?”
JB: “I don’t know if we’re pullin’ no party or none of that, I know we're serving the people in our district. I know that.”
ML: “Yeah?”
JB: “I know we’re showing up, you know, when people are hurting, when people are struggling, when kids are being killed, when someone OD’s on opioids, when we need justice reform, when we need a jobs plan — we are showing up in the district for people and delivering for them. And so no, we’re not on the ropes. We runnin’ 1,000 miles an hour. They're trying to hit us with metaphorical political bombs to stop us.”
ML: “Yeah?”
JB: “But we're like, ‘we're out of here, son.’ We’re on a whole ‘nother level than them.”
ML: “And, like, the primary against you, against Miss. [Cori] Bush, does that just come with the territory?”
JB: “Yeah, of course. I mean, historically, anyone who fights for justice what happens? People go after them, and so the power structure doesn't want, you know, voices like mine and Cori and Summer [Lee], you know, fighting the way we're fighting — you know, without fear, with humanity and love in our hearts. They don't want that, so they're going to come with the, you know, bring up some sh*t I did 15 years ago. You know what I’m sayin?”
ML: “Yeah?”
JB: “It’s like, what? That’s all they got?”
ML: “Does that surprise you seeing that stuff out there?”
JB: “It’s like, what? I wasn’t even in Congress, y’all crazy.”
ML: “Yeah?”
JB: “But because they didn't want to focus on the work we're doing here.”
ML: “Yeah?”
JB: “Again, like, it's the — they’re the Wizard of Oz, man.”
ML: “Fighting spirit. Good to see you. Have a good one.”
Matt Laslo’s a veteran congressional correspondent, new media prof. & founder of Ask a Pol — a new, people-powered press corps.
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Your primary opponent is AIPAC? “Yes,” Rep. Jamaal Bowman tells us