A new book by lefty Democratic Rep. Cori Bush (D-Missouri) debuted with a face-plant this month, selling just 729 copies in its first week, according to industry tracker NPD BookScan.
“The Forerunner: A Story of Pain and Perseverance in America,” was released by Knopf on Oct. 4. The publisher paid Bush — an anti-police socialist who stoked BLM riots in 2020 — an advance of at least $50,000, Bush’s financial disclosure reports show.
Things only went downhill from there, with NDP reporting just 288 books sold in its second week.
The book is billed as a political memoir which delves into Bush’s history as a minimum-wage worker, survivor of sexual violence and Black Lives Matter activist.
“When I wasn’t in Ferguson [MO.], I would still see armored vehicles, even when they were not there. At random moments in the day, I would smell tear gas, even when none had been sprayed,” she wrote, claiming her time protesting gave her PTSD.
SUMMERS: Bush eventually transferred to a school she says was more supportive, co-ed and Black. But by then, she says something in her had died. She writes of working low-wage jobs, spending time living out of her car, surviving sexual violence and a series of abusive relationships. Bush also shares the story of two abortions - one which she'd never disclosed publicly.
BUSH: I just remember trying to figure out, like, how can I raise a child? I'm trying to do school, and I'm working. You know, my parents are finally proud of me.
SUMMERS: You were trying to turn your life around.
BUSH: I was trying to turn my life around, even though I was, like, pulling at straws trying to figure out how to do it. And I just knew that I wasn't in a position to be able to have a child. But then when I went to the clinic to have the abortion, I just remember I decided on the table - you know what? I don't want to do this. I need more time. But I wasn't given more time. But now, looking back, even though it was a traumatic situation, how everything unfolded, I made the right decision for me because I still went through so many things after that that taking a child through that would not have been the best for a child.
SUMMERS: And just to be clear, when you say you decided on that table, you wrote that you told the nurse that you weren't ready...
BUSH: Yes.
BUSH: Yes. The nurse wouldn't allow me off the table. They just continued on with the procedure as I was saying no, I don't want - no, no. And they just continued on. And because the instrument was already inside of me, it was too late to change that.
SUMMERS: You wrote that you were - or that you are, in fact, concerned that sharing this story about what happened to you could be taken in a way that could be seen as undermining a woman's right to abortion care. What concerns you about going public and talking about this?
BUSH: Yeah, I - you know, because two things were happening - you know? - I needed that help at that time. But then also, being this Black, pregnant person - medical discrimination - it was prevalent then, and it's still prevalent now. But I don't want people to feel like, well, you were mistreated, and so that makes these clinics bad. Like, you don't need to have these services because of medical discrimination. No, there is medical discrimination in everything. So are you not going to get your diabetes medication? Are you not going to have, you know, your tooth checked out because of possible medical discrimination? No.
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