Speaking at a virtual fundraiser two weeks ago, Rep. Cori Bush (D-MO) recalled how earlier in the day at a separate event she had rushed to the aid of a Jewish activist supporting her opponent who had fallen over. The unnamed activist, Bush said, was “the person that brought this [AIPAC spending] to my doorstep” and the “No. 1 author” of the opposition to her in her district. 

The story sounded almost too good to be true — and it largely wasn’t, according to the person involved.

Debbie Kitchen, a St. Louis activist who identified herself as the person Bush was discussing, says that most elements of Bush’s anecdote were exaggerated or misrepresented.

Kitchen isn’t Jewish and had little familiarity with AIPAC prior to the race between Bush and St. Louis County Prosecutor Wesley Bell, she told Jewish Insider. Kitchen is a longtime activist in St. Louis who led the local chapter of the progressive group Indivisible until late last year.

“I wish I had that kind of power” to summon millions in outside spending, Kitchen said in an interview with JI on Tuesday. She said she has “absolutely not ever in my life” had contact with AIPAC or anyone representing the pro-Israel organization.

Kitchen first disputed Bush’s description of the incident in a Substack post, and subsequently discussed it in an interview with St. Louis Magazine.

She said she tripped over a cooler at the event in question, and two people — neither of them Bush — helped her up. She said Bush followed the two over and asked if she was alright and encouraged her to sit down. Kitchen said she’d thanked all three, including Bush, for their assistance, before walking away to sit down.

Bush’s campaign did not respond to a request for comment.

Bush’s description of the anecdote, first reported by JI, featured the congresswoman much more prominently.

“I bent down in my dress to help pull her up. I did what nurses do, to take care of the person that was in need,” Bush said. “And she kept saying ‘Thank you Cori. Thank you Cori. Oh, I appreciate it, Cori. Thank you Cori.’”

Kitchen said that Bush was lying about the incident, and she wanted to correct the record.

“I can’t let that go,” Kitchen said. “This is too important in this time for politicians not to be transparent. Running a negative campaign this way and based on lies, innuendo, rumors, never proof. I just am not OK with this, and I had to make a statement.”

She compared Bush’s misrepresentation of the event to “the very tactics that [former President Donald] Trump uses to win — and Democrats cannot go there.”

“I just could not allow her to raise $30,000 on a lie,” she reiterated, referencing the fundraising total from the event.

Kitchen said that she “really like[s] Bush as a person” and noted that she was the leader of Indivisible St. Louis when the group endorsed Bush’s first two congressional runs, including when Bush ran against and ousted then-Rep. Lacy Clay (D-MO).

She said Bush and Indivisible were largely aligned on policy priorities including the Green New Deal and health care but Bush “never showed up for Indivisible St. Louis — never, ever ever.”

“She wouldn’t answer the calls, wouldn’t answer the texts, couldn’t get ahold of her,” Kitchen said, a pattern that continued even after the group’s second endorsement. “She never showed up for anything we asked her to attend, and she never did town halls in St. Louis.”

But, she said, Bush continued to lean on the group for volunteers and other support. Kitchen no longer leads the chapter, but remains involved and said that the group ultimately endorsed Bell in the current primary because of Bush’s absenteeism.

The current Indivisible leadership didn’t respond to a request for comment. Bush’s unresponsiveness to district issues and constituent communications has been a frequent refrain among local leaders supporting Bell.

She said that Bell’s record on constituent engagement has been the polar opposite. Kitchen was a member of Bell’s 2018 campaign for county prosecutor.

“He looks you in the eye and he tells you the truth,” Kitchen said. “And guess what? He answers his phone. He responds to texts, he responds to his emails and he’ll even have a meeting with you in person.”

She also expressed frustration with Bush’s misleading claims of delivering more than $2 billion in federal funding for the district. 

Kitchen said that Bush’s campaign had gone “off the rails” after Oct. 7. Bush’s response “showed her true colors and her antisemitism … that’s how my Jewish friends feel,” Kitchen said. Many in the Jewish community in St. Louis have described Bush’s response to the attack and criticisms of Israel as antisemitic.

Kitchen said that Bell has been misrepresented by Bush and her allies’ attacks, insisting that he’s “not influenced by AIPAC money” or any other outside concerns, and that he “is his own man, and he’s a very smart man. Bottom line, he’s a public servant.”

Kitchen said she’s also been disappointed that “we have become so polarized that we’re making it [distasteful] for individuals who may be Republican … [to] want to support a Democrat because they will do better, they will bring results.” Bush’s campaign has described AIPAC’s spending — now totalling more than $7 million — as malign Republican influence in the race.