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Westchester County Executive George Latimer celebrates with supporters in White Plains, N.Y. after winning the Democratic primary for New York's 16th congressional district seat June 25, 2024. Latimer defeated incumbent Rep. Jamaal Bowman.
Centrists prevail over fringe figures in US primaries
Bucking the trend toward greater polarization, American primary voters sent a prominent progressive packing and chose three moderates over Trump-backed candidates on Tuesday night, suggesting the center can, sometimes, hold.
For progressive Democrats, the loss of Jamaal Bowman in New York was a big setback. Bowman lost by 17 points to George Latimer, a pro-Israel centrist, in an expensive and emotional contest. Bowman, who launched controversial attacks on Israel’s conduct of the war in Gaza, was not helped by a rescue mission led by Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, suggesting that a loss of focus on bread-and-butter issues gave voters second thoughts about Bowman.
In red states, moderates triumphed over the right wing in three states, with voters in Utah choosing Trump skeptic John Curtis over Trump’s candidate, Trent Staggs, to replace Mitt Romney in the Senate. Trump-backed candidates also lost in South Carolina and Colorado, a victory for establishment Republicans.
The centrists might be pleased to have more amicable colleagues, but they won’t get much of a break. Trump favorite Lauren Boeberteasily won a primary in a safe Colorado district after deciding not to risk losing her current district, where Democrats had a shot at taking her down. Moderation has its limits.
“Tuesday’s race showed that the center is indeed holding across many races,” says Clayton Allen, US director at Eurasia Group. “This is especially true with Democrats, where Bowman’s loss and Biden’s pivot toward the middle on border security leave progressives look weaker than they have since 2020. Behind that, the primaries do little to alter the main theme of the election: Biden’s age versus Trump’s temperament.”
Graph of real and fake account activity on AOC's X account.
Battle of the bots: AOC under attack
GZERO teamed up with Cyabra, a disinformation detection firm, to investigate how fake actors on the internet could be shaping interactions with AOC’s posts.
They found that 27% of responses to her X posts condemning US involvement in Israel’s Gaza operations and Columbia University’s use of police against protesters were from fake accounts.
The most common words used by the fake accounts were “Hamas” and “terrorist,” and their comments were usually accusing the congresswoman of sympathizing with terrorists or inciting violence. Many also compared the student protests to the Jan. 6 riots, proposing that there was a double standard to the protesters’ political agenda.
The worst time to enter Congress: Republican Congresswoman Nancy Mace
Freshman Republican Congresswoman Nancy Mace of South Carolina joined Ian Bremmer on GZERO World to recount her harrowing experience on Capitol Hill during the January 6 riots and to explain why she did not support impeaching a president she strongly condemned. She'll also discuss where she thinks Democrats and Republicans in Congress can come together in 2021.This is an extended interview from the recent GZERO World episode: After the insurrection: will Congress find common ground?
Mace referenced Representative Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez's account of the January 6 riots in a tweet on February 4. In late January, she told Ian Bremmer about her own experience on Capitol Hill that day. "I started to make my way back to my office, but I was unable to get to my building because of threats at the Capitol. In fact, there was a pipe bomb that was found just steps away from the Cannon Office building at C and First Street. And looking back at it now, I walked by a pipe bomb where that was to get into my office that day."
Mace recalled how she was stuck in a tunnel underneath the Capitol, trying to get back to her office. "I read police reports this week of rioters that knew that there were some members stuck in the tunnels underneath the Capitol, and they were trying to go down, find a way to get down there to find us and capture us. And so it was a very scary day. It's a day I will never forget. Our lives were at risk and were put in grave danger," she told GZERO World.
Rep. Nancy Mace's Firsthand Account of the Capitol Riots | GZERO Worldyoutu.be