Real Clear Politics, a right-wing political news outlet and polling data provider, recently published “Billionaires Funding Protests Donate Millions to House Dems.” The piece attempts to smear Democratic candidates as pro-Hamas because they have accepted campaign contributions from wealthy donors such as George Soros, or members of the Pritzker and Rockefeller families. But that’s just a partisan deception masquerading as journalism.
Nevertheless, the National Republican Congressional Campaign (NRCC) quickly pounced on these baseless accusations and issued a statement pointing to a $1,000 and $500 donation to Ashley Ehasz, the Democratic congressional candidate for Pennsylvania’s First District, from Wendy Rockefeller, to suggest she is pro-Hamas.
Ehasz has an impressive background that should quash the innuendo from the RNCC. A graduate of West Point, she trained to become an AH-64D Apache Longbow helicopter pilot and commanded troops during her deployment to Kuwait and Iraq. Following discharge, Ehasz earned her Master’s degree from the University of Oxford.
The Newtown Democratic Club, along with Democratic Jewish Outreach Pennsylvania, refute the claim made by RNCC.
“In several public statements, Ms. Ehasz has made clear her support for the right of Israel to defend itself against Hamas – a terrorist organization – while joining with the Biden administration in urging Israel to minimize civilian casualties in Gaza,” said Newtown Democrats. “The smear tactics unleashed against Ms. Ehasz, implying that she might support Hamas, are nothing new in a Republican party which gave “swiftboating” its definition.”
“DJOP is a Jewish Democratic organization that is proud to support and endorse Ashley Ehasz. She is a strong supporter of Israel, the only Jewish Democratic state in the world and she supports 2 states for 2 peoples,” said Jill Zipin, Founder and Chair of Democratic Jewish Outreach Pennsylvania.
Zipin added that Ehasz fully understands that Hamas is a genocidal terrorist organization and realizes that the end to the conflict will require a bilateral ceasefire along with the return of all hostages.
“The GOP, rather than engage in the real work to establish peace and security for all peoples in the region, uses Israel as a wedge issue for political gain,” Zipin said.
Ehasz’s opponent, incumbent Republican Rep. Brian Fitzpatrick, who likes to fashion himself – some say deceptively – as a “moderate” bipartisan lawmaker, has yet to repudiate this attack on Ehasz. Weaponizing a small donation from one individual in order to churn out deceptive propaganda is devious.
Democrats could just as easily say that Fitzpatrick wants to dismantle public education based on donations he has accepted from Paul Martino and Koch Industries. Or more so, that he is their puppet in Congress voting to advance their MAGA/right-wing agendas.
Unlike Ehasz, Fitzpatrick – along with 2024 GOP presidential candidate Donald Trump (who has endorsed Fitzpatrick twice) – have never served a day in uniform.
