AOC accuses AIPAC of supporting 'insurrectionists,' compares pro-Israel lobby to NRA

Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (D-N.Y.) compared the National Rifle Association to the liberal American Israel Public Affairs Committee, which she accused of supporting "insurrectionists."

IfNotNow, a liberal organization dedicated to ending "Israel's occupation," tweeted a video of the congresswoman with the caption, "Ever wondered how lobby groups like the @NRA and @AIPAC work? [Ocasio-Cortez] explains how lobbies work in DC, including how groups that support insurrectionists like @AIPAC use carrots and sticks to get members of Congress to support unpopular policy positions."

Ocasio-Cortez retweeted the post, which features a video of her answering the question: "What is the gun lobby like in DC? Like sneaky? Pressuring? Do they talk to you?"

She said that lobbyists will take members of congress and their staff to spas and golf clubs.

"A lot of Republican members of Congress are as right wing as they are because they're scared of getting challenged from their right because big money will finance right wing primary challengers," Ocasio-Cortez claimed.

"A good proxy is to look at who has and who continues to financially back insurrectionist members of Congress from January 6," she stated. "You got the NRA, you got AIPAC, big oil, dark money."

AIPAC says it is a bipartisan organization that supports pro-Israel candidates. It came under fire in March after endorsing Republicans who voted against certifying the 2020 presidential election.

"AIPAC is now endorsing & donating to Republicans who voted to overturn the US election on Jan 6th because, according to their statement, it’s more OK to dismantle US democracy than it is to question if US tax dollars should fund detention & abuse of Palestinian kids. Got it," Ocasio-Cortez tweeted at the time.

However, the pro-Israel organization came under fire in December after announcing the launch of regular political action committees that, according to the Times of Israel, "allow AIPAC to more robustly favor Democrats who are close to the lobby, to counter an impression in recent years that has deeply troubled the lobby: that it is more inclined to do battle with Democrats than Republicans. Additionally, coming out with an initiative that is emphatically bipartisan is a means of rejecting pressure on the lobby from Republicans to shun Democrats."

The newly-formed PAC came under fire in April for focusing $1.2 million, all of its spending so far at the time, on four Democratic primary races, Jewish Insider reported.

AIPAC-PAC's website features seven pro-Israel candidates, all of whom are Democrats.

The committee also made an unprecedented apology for then-candidate Donald Trump's speech at their 2016 annual meeting after he criticized then-President Barack Obama for being "maybe the worst thing to happen to Israel."