A second Michigan Senate candidate says he was offered $20M to run against Rashida Tlaib
(CBS DETROIT) - A second Democratic U.S. Senate candidate in Michigan says he was offered $20 million to run against U.S. Rep. Rashida Tlaib.
Nasser Beydoun, a civil rights advocate and businessman from Dearborn, posted a video on social media in which he said the offer was made by the pro-Israel lobby.
"Even knowing where I stand on AIPAC's influence on our elections and foreign policy, the pro-Israel lobby had the nerve to suggest that I would even consider taking a dime from them," said Beydoun on social media.
This makes Beydoun the second candidate to receive an offer like this. Hill Harper, another Democratic candidate running for Michigan Senate, said a donor offered him $20 million if he ran against Tlaib.
In a post made on social media, Harper said, "I didn't intend for a private phone call to turn public. But now that it has, here's the truth. One of the AIPAC's biggest donors offered $20m if I dropped out of the U.S. Senate race to run against @RashidaTlaib. I said no. I won't be bossed, bullied, or bought."
Both donations would have come through the American Israel Public Affairs Committee, with $10 million in contributions to their campaigns and $10 million in independent expenditures.
Tlaib, the only Palestinian American in Congress, has received significant backlash over her comments on the Israel-Hamas war.
Earlier this month, the House voted 234 to 188 to censure Tlaib.
"I can't believe I have to say this, but Palestinian people are not disposable," Tlaib said in a speech on the House floor after the vote. "The cries of the Palestinian and Israeli children sound no different to me."
A day after she was censured, Republicans in the Michigan Senate called for Tlaib to resign from office.
She recently released a statement after the temporary cease-fire in Gaza was announced by officials, in which she said the short pause was not enough.
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