Now is the winter of Summer Lee’s discontent
Salena Zito
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PLUM, Pennsylvania — Summer Lee has a problem.
The congresswoman, who has served in the 12th
Congressional District for less than a year, has found her strident position on Israel is not just turning off Jewish voters but a growing force of Democrats who find her behavior and positions untenable. This is in a district, mind you, that includes the Pittsburgh neighborhood that was rocked by the slaughter of 11 Jews at the Tree of Life synagogue five years ago.
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Lee, a former state representative and community activist, cut her political chops in 2018 by ousting a longtime Democrat in a low-turnout closed primary in a heavily Democratic state legislative seat. She barely won the 2022 Democratic congressional primary against Steve Irwin last year. She would go on to handily defeat her Republican challenger in last year’s general election.
Lee’s problems began when she was noticeably absent from the traditional events that local elected officials always attend, such as labor events, ribbon-cuttings, ethnic events, long-standing community celebrations, and even the annual Martin Luther King Breakfast. In a very parochial city, such absences get noticed.
They especially get noticed when she does find time to attend a Working Families Party event in Philadelphia, all the way across the state, but skips the people around here.
That problem came to a head the day after Oct.7 when Lee failed to show up in Squirrel Hill at the Jewish Community Center of Greater Pittsburgh, where hundreds of Pittsburghers and state politicians rallied in support of Israel.
Since then, she has posted on X, the social media platform formerly known as Twitter, that there was “no moral ambiguity” in the “reprehensible” bombing of the Al-Ahli Arab Hospital in the Gaza Strip. She was amplifying an Al Jazeera English news story that wrongly stated an Israeli air strike hit the hospital in the Gaza Strip. Lee also cast one of just 10 votes against a bill that asserted the House “stands with Israel as it defends itself against the barbaric war launched by Hamas and other terrorists.”
Lee has also joined a number of progressive House Democrats to support a resolution that does not mention Hamas terrorism in calling for a ceasefire in Gaza. All these decisions have prompted local religious leaders to send her a letter requesting her to “exercise better leadership” on Israel and asking to meet with her.
Last week, an online post showed a fundraiser was to be held on Nov. 19
for Lee along with Rep. Rashida Tlaib (D-MI), who was recently censured by the House for her rageful antisemitism. Because you had to RSVP to donate to attend, it was not independently confirmed that the event actually happened; what can be confirmed is that Lee and Tlaib have a lot in common.
Two weeks ago, Lee sat behind and in support of Tlaib when she delivered her emotional speech begging the House not to censure her. Yet censure her they did, for amplifying stories and opinions on social media that call Hamas’s actions justified “resistance” as well as calling for Israel to be destroyed.
Tlaib pushed the ludicrous line that her use of the phrase “From the river to the sea, Palestine will be free,” which in no uncertain terms means the elimination of the Jewish state, was really “an aspirational call for freedom.”
Last month, Lee earned a Democratic primary challenge from Edgewood Borough councilwoman Bhavini Patel, 29. Patel, the daughter of an immigrant Indian mother who grew up in the blue-collar suburb of Monroeville, hit the ground running long before her announcement. In the tradition of longtime Democratic U.S. Rep. Mike Doyle, who represented this region for decades, she is everywhere, introducing herself and listening to voters’ concerns.
Last week, she drew nearly 200 people to her office opening — quite the feat considering it was done in the middle of a Steelers-Browns football game.
A survey conducted by Embold Research between Oct. 21 and Oct. 23 showed Lee’s approval ratings underwater, with 43% of voters in Pittsburgh holding an unfavorable view of the former community activist.
Of the survey’s 860 respondents, most of whom identified as Democrats, only 38% of them held a favorable view of Lee.
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Muhlenberg College professor Christopher Borick explains that there is a fissure between far-left Democrats and traditional Democrats over the issue of Israel: “You are likely going to see elected officials with progressive credentials who were swept into office the past few years now face their first big challenges in next year’s primary races.”
Lee isn’t the only member of the far-left “Squad” to face a credible primary challenge. Reps. Cori Bush (D-MO), Jamaal Bowman (D-NY), and Ilhan Omar (D-MN) are also facing challengers over their vocal and often strident criticism of Israel’s war against Hamas in the aftermath of the Oct. 7 terrorist attack.