By Matthew Holloway |
While Arizona is still wrangling with the aftermath of major wildfires in the North, Governor Katie Hobbs headed to Nantucket, Massachusetts, to wine and dine out-of-state Democrat super-donors paying up to $5,500 a plate to meddle in the politics of the Grand Canyon State. The fundraising event was reportedly led by a former Ambassador whose nomination was nearly scuttled by allegations of antisemitism.
MSNBC Contributor Teddy Schleifer shared an invitation to the event in a post to X.
Tyler Bowyer, COO of Turning Point Action, lampooned the move in a post to X, writing, “another Arizona Democrat running an East Coast fundraiser.”
According to the post, the event was organized by a “host committee in formation,” which included prolific Democrat fundraiser Elizabeth Bagley, former Ambassador to Brazil under President Joe Biden and former Ambassador to Portugal under President Bill Clinton.
Bagley’s Senate confirmation was stalled in 2022 in the Senate Foreign Relations Committee on grounds of antisemitism allegations after the Washington Free Beacon found a 1998 interview in which she complained about “the influence of the Jewish lobby because there is major money involved.” She added, “The Democrats always tend to go with the Jewish constituency on Israel and say stupid things, like moving the capital to Jerusalem always comes up.” She claimed support for these Israel-related issues is due to “the Jewish factor, it’s money.”
Both Democrats and Republicans in Congress at the time were highly critical of Bagley for her remarks, to which she responded, “I regret that you would think that it was a problem. I certainly didn’t mean anything by it. It was a poor choice of words, but it was something that the interviewer had asked me, prompted by something about politics.”
Given Hobbs’ recent controversy involving the Jewish community and her veto of the Antisemitism in Education Act, which dealt with educators “promoting antisemitism or forcing students to support antisemitic viewpoints,” it is striking that Hobbs would participate in a fundraiser involving such a figure.
Matthew Holloway is a senior reporter for AZ Free News. Follow him on X for his latest stories, or email tips to Matthew@azfreenews.com.
