Last Updated on July 18, 2022
U.S. Rep. Cori Bush (D-MO) has spent nearly $400,000 of campaign funds on private security despite consistently advocating for the defunding of police.
FEC reports show Bush’s campaign spent a whopping $89,265 on her security detail during the second quarter alone.
Last year, when reporters called out Bush for her expensive security payments whilst pushing for police funding to be cut, Bush angrily responded.
“You would rather me die? Is that what you want to see? You want to see me die? You know, because that could be the alternative.”
The Missouri lawmaker justified her security detail by claiming she has faced assassination attempts before and has “too much work to do.”
READ MORE: Cori Bush Loudly Defends Security Detail, ‘I’m Gonna Make Sure I Have Security’ But ‘Defunding The Police Has To Happen’
“There are too many people that need help right now for me to allow that. So, if I end up spending $200,000, if I spend 10 more dollars on it, you know what, I get to be here to do do the work, so suck it up,” she continued.
Refusing to recognize her potential hypocrisy, Bush added “and defunding the police has to happen. We need to defund the police and put that money into social safety nets.”
So Democrat @RepCori’s life is the only one important enough to be protected? The radical left’s “security for me, but not for you” agenda is elitist hypocrisy and arrogance at its very worst. pic.twitter.com/3a4Z2qGunQ
— Sarah Huckabee Sanders (@SarahHuckabee) August 5, 2021
Contrasting Bush, prominent Democrats like Rep. Ilhan Omar, Rep. Ayanna Pressley, and Rep. Rashida Tlaib, who often receive threats, spent extremely fewer campaign funds on private security.
The other Democrats spent around $3,000, $7,000, and $1,500, respectively, on private security throughout the second quarter. Bush spent approximately eight times as much as these three Democrats spent combined.
Also, Rep. Alexandria Ocasio Cortez and Jamaal Bowman have reported zero expenditures that are security related.
Bush has been a lead advocate for gun control and the defund-the-police movement. She told Axios that she will continue to parrot her progressive talking points this election cycle, regardless of what the Democrat establishment wants.
“I always tell [fellow Democrats], ‘If you all had fixed this before I got here, I wouldn’t have to say these things,'” she explained.
Bush also took a shot at the Democrat’s Congressional Progressive Caucus for not being far-Left enough. The caucus’ members include Bush, Rep. Maxine Waters, Rep. Rashida Tlaib, Rep. Ilhan Omar, and a multitude of other Democrats.
The Missouri congresswoman questioned “What is a ‘progressive’ here in the House? We need to hone in more on what that really is.”
Stay tuned to National File for any updates.
