Politics
Progressive 'Squad' Dems spent $325K on private security while calling to 'defund police'
The $200,000 spent by Bush in 2021 eclipsed the security bills of the other progressive squad members, who had all promoted the “defund the police” movement during unrest following George Floyd’s murder by police during his arrest in May 2020.
February 2, 2022 7:31pm
Updated: February 2, 2022 7:32pm
Rep. Cori Bush (D-MO) and other members of the far-left “Squad” spent over $325,000 on private security in 2021, according to Federal Election Commission records reviewed by Fox News.
The $200,000 spent by Bush in 2021 eclipsed the security bills of the other progressive squad members, who had all promoted the “defund the police” movement during unrest following George Floyd’s murder by police during his arrest in May 2020.
When asked by CBS about the hypocrisy of spending tens of thousands on private security, Bush responded, “You would rather me die? Is that what you want to see? You want to see me die?”
In a Washington Post profile, the Missouri Democrat justified the expense because of criticism from Republicans and conservative media.
Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (D-NY) spent the second-most amongst her progressive peers, racking up a private security bill just shy of $75,000 total in 2021.
"Defunding police means defunding police," Ocasio-Cortez said in June 2020. "It does not mean budget tricks or funny math. It does not mean moving school police officers from the NYPD budget to the Department of Education’s budget so the exact same police remain in schools."
Rep. Ilhan Omar (D-IL) supported dismantling the Minneapolis Police Department and spent $30,000 on private security in 2021.
Fox News also reported that Rep. Ayanna Pressley (D-MA) spent about $14,000 in 2021 and Rep. Jamaal Bowman (D-NY) spent $7,872 in 2021. Rep. Rashida Tlaib (D-MI) spent less than $3,000 in 2021 – the least reported.
