By Democrats are getting a new taste for how their new friends treat them. Palestinian journalist Rula Jebreal referred to House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries as an “AIPAC monkey” during a podcast appearance, prompting an immediate backlash from Black Democrats who said the language was racist regardless of her stated intent.
When people show you who they are, believe them the first time. pic.twitter.com/HpigAsiO1m
— greg (@mistergeezy) September 4, 2026
Jebreal made the remark on Wajahat Ali’s “The Left Hook” while attacking Jeffries, a New York Democrat, over his support for Israel and his ties to the American Israel Public Affairs Committee, explained The New York Post.
“His name is Hakeem. ‘Hakeem’ is an Arabic name which means ‘healer.’ He’s not a healer, he’s a divider,” she said. “He is a bought and paid by AIPAC monkey. With all due respect — and I don’t mean it in a racist way.”
She added, “He is just basically an errand boy, and we’re done and tired.”
Ali interrupted to warn that calling a Black man a “monkey” carries “terrible racial connotations,” though he said he believed Jebreal “caught herself” and did not intend racial animosity. Jebreal responded by invoking the proverbial three wise monkeys.
“There are these three monkeys – one, I cannot hear, I cannot see, I cannot speak – it reminds me of these three monkeys,” she said.
The Congressional Black Caucus was furious, rejecting Jebreal’s explanation outright and making clear that her politics did not earn her a pass. “To be clear, there isn’t a non-racist way to call Leader Jeffries—a Black man—a ‘monkey’ or ‘errand boy,’” the caucus said. It then broadened its criticism beyond Jebreal herself, arguing that lax standards for political rhetoric had helped create the environment for the remark: “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.”
The caucus concluded with an unusually direct admonition aimed across ideological lines: “We have to stop platforming and trafficking in anti-Black racism, whether it’s on the political right or the left.”
To be clear, there isn’t a non-racist way to call Leader Jeffries—a Black man—a “monkey” or “errand boy.”@WajahatAli, 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.
We have to… https://t.co/3Cu32T3JYT
— Congressional Black Caucus (CBC) (@TheBlackCaucus) September 4, 2026
Rep. Ritchie Torres, another New York Democrat and a frequent defender of Israel, was equally blunt.
“Calling a Black man a ‘monkey’ is racist. Full stop,” Torres wrote. “If Wajahat Ali and Rula Jebreal were on the far right, no one on the far left would have any trouble condemning them for dehumanizing a Black man in racist terms. The silence is deafening.”
Calling a Black man a “monkey” is racist. Full stop.
If Wajahat Ali and Rula Jebreal were on the far right, no one on the far left would have any trouble condemning them for dehumanizing a Black man in racist terms.
The silence is deafening. https://t.co/Rhhiu7LmGp
— Ritchie Torres (@RitchieTorres) September 5, 2026
Jebreal later apologized on Twitter while reiterating her criticism of Jeffries and AIPAC.
“I am disgusted and horrified that Hakeem Jeffries is taking money from AIPAC amidst Israel’s genocide in Palestine,” she wrote. “That said, a term that I used to describe him was inappropriate and offensive and should never have been used. I apologize unconditionally.”
Jeffries’ office did not immediately comment. The episode comes as Democratic divisions over Israel and pro-Israel political spending continue to produce increasingly public clashes inside the party, with Jeffries frequently targeted by progressive critics over his support for Israel.
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