Michigan Democratic Senate candidate Hill Harper revealed Wednesday that he was offered $20 million to end his campaign and instead mount a primary challenge against Rep. Rashida Tlaib.
Harper, an actor who plays Dr. Marcus Andrews in the ABC drama “The Good Doctor,” said in a X post that he rejected the proposal.
“I do not intend for private phone calls to be made public. But now that it has happened, here’s the truth,” Harper wrote.
“One of AIPAC’s biggest donors offered $20 million if I dropped out of the US Senate race to run [Tlaib]. I said no. I will not be bored, bullied or bought.”
The offer was reportedly made by Michigan businessman Linden Nelson in October, according to Politico, and the money will come in the form of $10 million in combined contributions to Harper’s campaign and $10 million in independent spending on his behalf.
It’s unclear how big a donor Nelson is to the American Israel Public Affairs Committee.
Harper, who has starred in “CSI: NY” and “The Good Doctor,” is running for Michigan’s open US Senate seat. Getty Images for NOBCO
AIPAC told the outlet that it was “absolutely not involved in any way in this matter” and that Nelson “hasn’t contributed to AIPAC in over a decade.”
Nelson has donated more than $537,000 to Democratic and Republican candidates, including to President Biden, former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton and Sen. Mitt Romney (R-Utah), since 1988, according to Federal Election Commission records.
Tlaib, who is a Palestinian American, was criticized by House lawmakers earlier this month for defending the Oct. 7 Hamas terror attack. against Israel as “resistance” and for using the slogan, “From the river to the sea, Palestine will be free. ,” a call to eliminate the Jewish state.
The Michigan Democrat, a member of the far-left congressional “Squad,” is up for re-election in 2024.
Tlaib was censured by the House earlier this month for defending the October 7 Hamas terrorist attack on IsraelGetty Images
“I’m not going to run against the only Palestinian American in Congress just because some special interest doesn’t like it,” Harper saidadding that the phone call was emblematic of “a broken system of political and campaign finance that is skewed to the rich and powerful.”
Harper is running for Michigan’s open Senate seat next year, which is also contested by Rep. Elissa Slotkin (D-Mich.).
Categories: Trending
Source: thtrangdai.edu.vn/en/
