The Aporia · Democrats condemn anti-Israel journalist who called Hakeem Jeffries ‘AIPAC monkey’

Democrats condemn anti-Israel journalist who called Hakeem Jeffries ‘AIPAC monkey’

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Schroppe, C. (2026, September 5). Democrats condemn anti-Israel journalist who called Hakeem Jeffries ‘AIPAC monkey’. Washington Examiner. https://www.washingtonexaminer.com/news/house/4715170/democrats-anti-israel-journalist-hakeem-jeffries-aipac-monkey/

Dated when The Aporia collected the article, usually within hours of publication. Check the original for its exact date and byline.

Quick Summary

Rula Jebreal, an anti-Israel journalist and foreign policy analyst for MSNBC, made comments criticizing House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries (D-NY) as a "bought and paid by AIPAC monkey" during a podcast conversation with Wajahat Ali. The Congressional Black Caucus and several Democratic lawmakers condemned Jebreal's remarks as racist and bigoted, with Reps. Ritchie Torres and Joe Neguse stating that the language used dehumanized a black man in racist terms. Jebreal has apologized for her comments, stating they were "inappropriate and offensive" but not made with racial animosity. The incident highlights a split among New York City Democrats on Israel policy, with Jeffries and others supporting Israel while Mayor Zohran Mamdani and some officials have promoted anti-Israel views since October 7.

Written locally by qwen2.5:14b on 2026-09-05, using this article's own text rather than the other coverage of the same event (that is the story summary below).

AI analysis runs on qwen2.5:14b, locally

Story summary

Rula Jebreal, an anti-Israel journalist, made a comment on Wajahat Ali's podcast that was widely condemned by Democrats as racist. On Wednesday, she referred to Hakeem Jeffries, the House Minority Leader and a Black man, as an "AIPAC monkey", suggesting he is bought and paid for by the pro-Israel lobbying group AIPAC. Jebreal claimed she didn't mean it in a "racist way" but acknowledged the term's negative connotations. However, the Congressional Black Caucus and several Democratic lawmakers, including Reps. Ritchie Torres, Joe Neguse, and Ayanna Pressley, strongly denounced her comment as racist. Jebreal has since apologized "unconditionally". This incident highlights tensions between pro-Israel and anti-Israel groups within the Democratic Party.

Written for “Journalist's Anti-Israel Outburst” on 2026-10-21, grounded in this article and the 1 other(s) covering the same event.

Compared with similar articles

This article reads leans strongly left and hedges 0% of its claims. Each row says how that neighbour differs.

Democratic lawmakers erupt after anti-Israel journalist calls Hakeem Jeffries an ‘AIPAC monkey’ in viral rant same event · 100%

Fox News · 0.94 cosine similarity

⚖️ leaning not scored 🔴 0% hedged 0 of 28 📰 publisher trust 67

“Both articles describe Rula Jebreal calling House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries 'AIPAC monkey' in a podcast interview on Wednesday”

Are Democrats Turning Against Israel - or Jews? Two Leading Jewish Voices Debate Antisemitism and Anti-Zionism different event · 90%

Zeteo

⚖️ leaning not scored 🔴 0% hedged 0 of 10

“Article A reports on a specific incident where Rula Jebreal made a comment about Hakeem Jeffries, while Article B discusses a broader trend of anti-Israel sentiment and antisemitism within the Democratic Party.”

Raskin calls Piker’s rhetoric 'irrelevant distraction' after the streamer said he'd vote for Hamas over Israel different event · 80%

Fox News

⚖️ leaning not scored 🔴 8% hedged 2 of 24 📰 publisher trust 67

“The articles cover different events, with Article A discussing Rula Jebreal's criticism of Hakeem Jeffries and Article B dismissing scrutiny of Hasan Piker's rhetoric about Hamas.”

How this article was measured signals, leaning charts, publisher record, byline, topics and claims

Signals How these are calculated →

Claims extracted

sentences that state something as happening or true

Uncertain

0 of 18 hedged ("reportedly", "may", "according to")

Leaning

Leans strongly left

of the writing, not the subject · beta estimate

Publisher signals

66/100

Washington Examiner's corrections and hedging, across everything collected from it. Not a measure of accuracy.

Outlets on this story

Politics

Same framing elsewhere

articles that frame the event the way this one does

Analyzed 2026-09-05 · how these are computed

How this is being covered How these are calculated →

Article leaning vs. publisher reliability

Source leaning vs. consistency

Publisher

Washington Examiner · 3223 article(s) · 6 correction(s) detected

Running correction rate · 6 correction(s)

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Who wrote this

Carter Schroppe

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Nothing else under this byline is closely related to this article, so these are simply their most recent.

All 46 articles by Carter Schroppe →

Topics

AIPAC Black Democrats Israel The Congressional Black Caucus

Subjects

Jebreal PERSON · 7× Jeffries PERSON · 4× Israel GPE · 3× AIPAC ORG · 2× Black NORP · 2× Democrats NORP · 2× Hakeem PERSON · 2× Hakeem Jeffries PERSON · 2× Rula Jebreal PERSON · 2× Wajahat Ali PERSON · 2×

Narrative

The more centrist Jeffries, along with Torres and Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer (D-NY), has remained a staunch supporter of Israel while other New York City Democrats, such as Mayor Zohran Mamdani and various city officials, have promoted anti-Israel views since Oct. 7.

framing: assertive · carried by 1 article(s) · first seen 2026-09-05

🔮 “If Wajahat Ali and Rula Jebreal were on the far right,” Torres said, “no one on the far left would have any trouble condemning them for dehumanizing a Black man in racist terms.

2026-09-05 · Washington Examiner

Democrats condemn anti-Israel journalist who called Hakeem Jeffries ‘AIPAC monkey’ · assertive framing

Claims (18 extracted, 0 hedged)

The Congressional Black Caucus and other Democratic lawmakers condemned anti-Israel journalist Rula Jebreal on Friday after she criticized House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries (D-NY) for supporting Israel. asserted

she → condemn → Israel

‘Hakeem is an Arabic name which means ‘healer,'” Jebreal said while speaking with commentator Wajahat Ali on his podcast “The Left Hook.” asserted

Jebreal → mean → podcast

“He is not a healer, he’s a divider. asserted

he → ’ → ?

He is a bought and paid by AIPAC monkey, with all due respect. asserted

He → buy → respect

And I don’t mean it in a racist way, he is just basically an errand boy.” asserted

he → mean → way

Jebreal clarified that Jeffries reminded her of the three wise monkeys, who cannot hear, see, or speak, but her comment was quickly denounced by Democrats. asserted

comment → clarify → Democrats

“To be clear, there isn’t a non-racist way to call Leader Jeffries—a Black man—a ‘monkey’ or ‘errand boy,'” the CBC said. asserted

CBC → be → Jeffries

“This is what happens when we hold ourselves to such low standards for what’s allowable in our discourse—people get comfortable being openly bigoted. asserted

people → happen → discourse

We have to stop platforming and trafficking in anti-Black racism, whether it’s on the political right or the left.” asserted

it → have → right

Reps. Ritchie Torres (D-NY), Joe Neguse (D-CO), and Ayanna Pressley (D-MA) also condemned Jebreal’s comments. asserted

Torres → condemn → comments

“If Wajahat Ali and Rula Jebreal were on the far right,” Torres said, “no one on the far left would have any trouble condemning them for dehumanizing a Black man in racist terms. asserted

one → say → terms

Democrats → remain → Oct.

Jebreal has worked as a foreign policy analyst for multiple publications throughout her career, including MSNBC. asserted

Jebreal → work → MSNBC

“I am disgusted and horrified that Hakeem Jeffries is taking money from AIPAC amidst Israel’s genocide in Palestine,” Jebreal said in a written apology. asserted

Jebreal → disgust → apology

“That said, a term that I used to describe him was inappropriate and offensive and should never have been used. asserted

I → say → him

I apologize unconditionally.” asserted

I → apologize → ?

Ali, a New York Times contributor, tried to cover for Jebreal in the moment, saying the term “monkey” has racist connotations in this context, but that Jebreal caught herself “and didn’t say it with any racial animosity.” asserted

Jebreal → try → animosity

Jeffries has not commented on the incident. asserted

Jeffries → comment → incident