This claim is misleading. U.S. intelligence agencies confirmed that Russia did interfere in the 2016 election through hacking, leaked emails, and massive social media campaigns to influence voters, not “minimal” actions. While Russia didn’t change votes, its influence operations were considered major. It’s true that AIPAC is a powerful lobbying group and spends millions influencing U.S. elections. An October 2, 2025 New York Times article shows that Democrats are increasingly pulling away from AIPAC, suggesting its influence may be waning. Comparing Russia’s covert international interference to AIPAC’s domestic lobbying is misleading, they operate in very different ways and are not directly comparable in magnitude or type. The claim is misleading. Russia’s interference was not minimal, and while AIPAC is influential, saying it “had a much bigger influence” than Russia oversimplifies complex, very different phenomena.
https://www.nytimes.com/2025/10/02/us/politics/democrats-aipac.html
