Rep. Summer Lee (D-PA) was notably absent from a widely attended rally for Vice President Kamala Harris in Pittsburgh on Thursday night, a couple of days after she was publicly rebuked by Sen. Bob Casey (D-PA) over a controversial joint statement marking the Oct. 7 Hamas terror attacks that also faced condemnation in the local Jewish community.

Prior to the rally held in Lee’s district, which was headlined by former President Barack Obama, the freshman congresswoman privately faced resistance from Jewish leaders and other Democratic activists over her potential role in the event, according to  sources.

The fallout from her statement — which made no mention of Hamas and was accused of blaming Israel for the attacks — was apparent on Thursday evening as Lee was “passed over” for a speaking slot at the rally, said a Jewish activist familiar with the matter who asked to remain anonymous to discuss drama behind the scenes. 

There had been “internal brawls” in the hours leading up to the rally over Lee’s involvement, according to the activist, particularly after Casey had firmly denounced her statement as “insensitive” and “inappropriate.”

On Thursday night, there “was absolutely no sight of” Lee at the rally, said a person who attended the event — where several elected officials took the stage before Obama. Among them was Pittsburgh Mayor Ed Gainey, who also signed the statement with Lee and Allegheny County Executive Sara Innamaroto.

A Jewish leader in Pittsburgh said that several Jewish community activists sought to block the three officials from participating in the campaign rally, which Innamorato did not appear to have attended. The request “was run up the flagpole,” said the Jewish leader.

Representatives for Lee, Gainey and Innamaroto did not respond to requests for comment about the event.

In his remarks on Thursday, meanwhile, Obama called on the crowd to support a number of local candidates in addition to Harris, including Casey.

But he did not mention Lee, even as she had spoken before him at a previous Pennsylvania rally in 2022 during the last election.

For her part, Lee joined MSNBC after the rally to discuss Obama’s remarks.