As the war rages on in the Middle East after Hamas slaughtered over 1,000 Israelis on Oct. 7, pro-Palestinian lawmakers in the United States – including Representative Rashida Tlaib (D-MI) – have faced backlash. Now, it has come to light that Representative Darren Soto (D-FL) and candidate for Senate, former Representative Debbie Mucarsel-Powell both received donations from Emgage, a Muslim-American political action organization that has also donated to Rep. Tlaib.
Why is Emgage considered problematic to some?
In 2021, Emgage called on President Joe Biden (D) to “halt attacks on Palestinians” and said that the state of affairs at the time was “not a case of ‘both sides’” as the State of Israel is “the occupier.”
Three days after the attack in Israel, Emgage declined to condemn Hamas. Instead, they said, “We must address the issue at its root and end the occupation that has oppressed millions of Palestinians for decades.”
The group continued, “Palestinians in Gaza have endured Israel’s brutal siege for over 15 years. Israel’s repeated large-scale military attacks on Gaza have taken thousands of Palestinian civilian lives, including hundreds of children.”
According to Townhall and the Federal Election Commission (FEC), Rep. Soto received $1,500 from Emgage on three separate instances and has not refunded the money. Open Secrets found that in the 2020 election cycle, Rep. Mucarsel-Powell received $2,500 from the organization and Rep. Soto received $500.
In the past, Rep. Soto donated $9,000 in campaign donations from Senator Bob Menendez (D-NJ) after he accepted bribes from the Egyptian government.
After it was found that Soto had not returned the money from Emgage, National Republican Congressional Committee (NRCC) Spokeswoman Delanie Bomar said “shame on him.”
“Darren Soto’s campaign is funded by blood money,” said Bomar. “Shame on him for refusing to give it back.”
She also stated that his refusal to donate the funding from Emgage “shows he is willing to accept anti-Israel support.”
Rep. Mucarsel-Powell has not said whether or not she would donate the funds received from Emgage.
She was unseated by now-Representative Carlos Gimenez (R-FL) in 2020.
In August, Senator Rick Scott (R-FL) met with The Floridian Publisher Javier Manjarres at the RNC debate in Wisconsin to discuss his upcoming reelection campaign and his challenger, Mucarsel-Powell.
When announcing her candidacy, Mucarsel-Powell said, "I'm not afraid to take on anyone who doesn't put Florida first. That means you, Rick Scott, that's why I'm running for the U.S. Senate.”
Manjarres pursued Scott’s thoughts concerning the Democrats’ plan to stick with the far-left “democratic-socialism” ideology going into the next election. The Florida senator believes that plan will not work in the Sunshine State.
.@SenRickScott laughs off his new Democratic senatorial candidate @RepDMP challenge in 2024
Exclusive with Publisher @JavManjarres
“Centrist? That was only for the campaign. Not when [she] voted. She voted 100% with Nancy Pelosi."—@SenRickScott
READ MORE:… pic.twitter.com/opZZ0bNcU6
— The Floridian (@Floridianpress) August 23, 2023
“The problem we have in Florida is actually – we have a lot of people in our state that actually dealt with socialism, and they left it. They either left it because they left it last in Latin America, or they’ve watched these crazy blue-state policies in New York and California, and Illinois – have failed and so they want to live in a state that they have the opportunity to live their own dream. You don’t have a government telling you how to lead your life,” Scott said.
This is a developing story.
