Anti-Israel journalist Rula Jebreal apologized "unconditionally" after calling House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries, D-N.Y., an "AIPAC monkey" during an interview earlier this week, a remark the Congressional Black Caucus and several Democratic lawmakers condemned as blatantly racist.The comment came as Jebreal appeared on Wajahat Ali’s "The Left Hook" podcast on Wednesday, where she accused Jeffries — who is Black — of carrying out the agenda of the American Israel Public Affairs Committee (AIPAC) and blasted his support for Israel."His name is Hakeem.‘Hakeem’ is an Arabic name which means ‘healer.’ He’s not a healer, he’s a divider," Jebreal said.LEFT-WING PODCASTER BLASTS SCHUMER, JEFFRIES AS 'FASCIST COLLABORATORS'Rula Jebreal speaks during a conference on the situation in the Gaza Strip in Parma, Italy, on July 3, 2025.
(Getty Images)"He is a bought and paid by AIPAC monkey," she added."With all due respect — and I don’t mean it in a racist way." Jebreal continued, "He is just basically an errand boy, and we’re done and tired." Immediately following Jebreal’s comments, host Ali sought to clarify the meaning behind her remarks."I know you corrected yourself, Rula, but I just want to address it," Ali said.
"Using monkey to anyone Black, it has terrible racial connotations.But I think you caught yourself and said you didn’t mean it with any racial animosity.""I didn’t," Jebreal replied.
"There’s these three monkeys — one, I cannot hear, I cannot see, I cannot speak – it reminds me of these three monkeys."However, the Congressional Black Caucus (CBC) rejected Jebreal’s explanation of her controversial comments, with other Democratic leaders following suit."To be clear, there isn’t a non-racist way to call Leader Jeffries — a Black man — a ‘monkey’ or ‘errand boy,’" the group said in a statement posted to X.SOME DEMOCRATS PRIVATELY DISGUSTED BY HASAN PIKER BUT ARE AFRAID TO PUBLICLY CRITICIZE HIM, HOUSE DEM CL...