Cori Bush, the Democratic nominee to represent the 1st Congressional District, responded to critics of her call to “defund the military,” including the Post-Dispatch editorial board, in a series of tweets Wednesday evening. Here is what she wrote:
“Donald Trump Jr. and Kevin McCarthy are attacking me. A local editorial board calls me ignorant.
“As a Black woman running for office, I’m used to these kinds of attacks.
“But let’s talk about ignorance. Let’s talk about what actually keeps our communities safe.
“Militarization makes up 64% of our federal budget.
“Medicare & Health are 6%. Education is 5%. Social Security, Unemployment, and Labor together are 3%.
“Ignorance is thinking those priorities keep our families safe.
“220K+ people, including 1,700 healthcare workers, have died from COVID-19 due to our government’s inability to protect its citizens & pass pandemic relief.
“Ignorance is Trump’s Pentagon taking $1 billion in funding designated for PPE production to make jet engine parts.
“The Department of Defense has never passed an independent audit, yet we continue to give them money unchecked.
“Ignorance is the Trump administration *INCREASING* the Pentagon budget by more than $100 billion since he was elected.
“Ignorance is paying Lockheed Martin more than $1 trillion over the course of a 60 year contract for a dysfunctional F-35 program. Ignorance is letting their CEO take a $20 million dollar salary while military veterans go homeless.
“.@BernieSanders and @EdMarkey proposed a 10% cut on the Pentagon budget to use to fund health care, housing, childcare and educational opportunities for cities and towns experiencing a poverty rate of 25% or more.
“Ignorance is blocking this bill knowing it would save lives.
“Ignorance is giving weapons of war to local police departments with no accountability or oversight.
“Ignorance is calling us radical for saying that’s wrong.
“Yes I want to change our priorities. We can fund Medicare for All, guarantee housing, and enact a Green New Deal. We can make sure no veteran goes unhoused or without care. We can have a government that actually works for us.
“Ignorance is insulting my intelligence because you’ve never had a Black Lives Matter activist like me making decisions in Congress. Ignorance is thinking I’m just a protestor or a single mom. But what they don’t realize is that those are my superpowers.
“At least 3 generations of my family have served this country in the military. My father’s been a public servant his entire life.
“I’m going to Congress to build a country they’ll be proud of.”
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