DADE CITY, Fla. – James Judge, a conservative Republican candidate running for the U.S. House of Representatives in Florida’s 12th Congressional District, strongly criticized Rep. Gus Bilirakis (R-FL) and the majority of Congress for their recent vote to send $14 billion in foreign aid to Israel, while expressing his unwavering support for the State of Israel on Thursday.
“Make no mistake, I stand with Israel through and through, but we simply do not have any extra money lying around. Our nation is literally bankrupt. We have to stop this reckless spending,” Judge said. “Why are American taxpayers continually forced by Democrat and Republican lawmakers to bear the burden of taking on debt so we can give away money for free to other countries?”
It wasn’t just members of Congress that Judge condemned. He also called out the American Israel Public Affairs Committee (AIPAC) for tactics he labeled as bribery and bullying.
“If you want to get a visual of how D.C. bribery works, here is an easy example. AIPAC contributed nearly $10 million to 304 members of the U.S. House and 26 Senators during the 2022 election cycle, with the expectation that those folks will allocate future money from the American treasury to Israel. Plainly speaking, that means those funds will be taken from American taxpayers’ future paychecks,” Judge said. “Then, when a conservative like Thomas Massie correctly identifies we have a major debt problem and need to take care of our own, AIPAC employs bullying tactics, labels him anti-Semitic and compares him to national disgraces like Ilhan Omar and AOC. It’s wrong and it’s time to fire the establishment on both sides of the aisle, while implementing reforms on lobbying and special interest groups.”
Among Judge’s chief complaints about Bilirakis, are his limitless spending and courting of more than 3,700 special interest contributions. According to a review of Federal Election Commission records, in 2022, AIPAC bought Bilirakis’s loyalty with $10,000 in campaign contributions. By contrast, individual Americans are limited to making political contributions of no more than $3,300 to any federal political candidate per election cycle.
Despite his condemnation of Congress’s reckless spending, Judge firmly reiterated his support for Israel’s right to self-defense, and acknowledged the strategic importance of this alliance in promoting peace and stability in the Middle East.
“It’s essential to clarify that my criticism of this recent vote is not a reflection of my unwavering support for Israel. I strongly support our longtime ally and believe we can invoke peace through strength with maintaining a strong military presence,” Judge said.
Additionally, Judge offered some different ideas for potential future funding related to foreign aid of America’s allies.
“If our sworn allies like Israel need financial assistance, I think we should do everything in our power to help them by loaning it to them at a fair interest rate, or cosigning for them, but, ultimately, we have to stop handing out money we don’t have,” Judge said. “Biblically speaking, we are called to be financially responsible and take care of our family first. To me, that means taking care of our nation first. Going further into debt for another country, with zero obligation for that country to reimburse us, isn’t only unfair to Americans, it’s financially unwise. If we had the money lying around, that would be an entirely different story.”
The U.S. currently faces significant budgetary challenges, with a mounting national debt and an increasing budget deficit. Currently, the U.S. has more than $33 trillion in debt and more than $210 trillion in unfunded liabilities.
About James Judge:
James Judge, a Florida native, graduated from Eckerd College in St. Petersburg and served in the U.S. Coast Guard in Operation Iraqi Freedom. Additionally, he served in Kabul, Afghanistan as a spokesman for the U.S. Department of Defense from 2010 until 2011. He now owns Judge Public Relations, a Tampa-based public relations, marketing and consulting firm. Judge is married to his wife Danielle, who is also a small business owner. The Judges live on a ranch in Dade City, with their five dogs, three cats, chickens, cows, goats and horses. Judge is a proud member of the NRA, Veterans of Foreign Wars and the American Legion. The Judges are also longtime, active members at Idlewild Baptist Church in Lutz.