Seth Moulton is returning AIPAC donations after launching Senate marketing campaign towards Ed Markey

How left can he go?

Congressman Seth Moulton says he’s returning donations to the pro-Israel conservative group AIPAC simply as he launches his Senate marketing campaign towards progressive U.S. Sen. Ed Markey.

Moulton additionally introduced that he’s “refusing to accept any donations or support” from the American Israel Public Affairs Committee transferring ahead.

The Salem Democrat is returning about $35,000 that AIPAC had donated to him in the previous few quarters.

“I support Israel’s right to exist, but I’ve also never been afraid to disagree openly with AIPAC when I believe they’re wrong,” Moulton mentioned in an announcement on Thursday. “Lately, AIPAC has aligned itself too intently with Prime Minister Netanyahu’s authorities. I’m a buddy of Israel, however not of its present authorities, and AIPAC’s mission as we speak is to again that authorities.

“I don’t support that direction,” he added. “That’s why I’ve decided to return the donations I’ve received and will not be accepting their support.”

The quarter’s submitting deadline to return donations was on Wednesday, when the 46-year-old Iraq Warfare veteran introduced that he’s difficult 79-year-old Markey subsequent 12 months.

An AIPAC spokesperson slammed Moulton for returning the donations.

“Rep. Moulton is abandoning his friends to grab a headline, capitulating to the extremes rather than standing on conviction,” the AIPAC spokesperson mentioned.

“His statement comes after years of him repeatedly asking for our endorsement and is a clear message to AIPAC members in Massachusetts, and millions of pro-Israel Democrats nationwide, that he rejects their support and will not stand with them,” the spokesperson added.

Moulton centered on Markey’s age in his launch video, saying Markey shouldn’t be working for workplace at 80 years outdated, as he known as for a brand new era of management.

Markey’s marketing campaign on Wednesday known as Moulton a “well-funded challenger… with a record of walking back on progressive values to appease the extremists in the Republican party.”

“A challenger who may very well receive the backing of dark money groups and Super PACs who can spend millions to defeat me and our movement,” Markey’s marketing campaign added in a fundraising e-mail.

Markey has aligned himself with progressive teams and New York Congresswoman Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, amongst others on the left. He has pushed for the “Green New Deal.”

In his AIPAC assertion on Thursday, Moulton mentioned he was “cautiously optimistic that the recent breakthrough in Gaza will move us closer to ending the horrific violence in the region.”

“A political resolution that allows Israelis and Palestinians to live side by side in peace is exactly the kind of framework I’ve been calling for from the beginning,” he added.