Of Course There's Been a Rush to Defend Pramila Jayapal Over Anti-Israel Comments

Although Jayapal voted in favor of the resolution, her support was not always a given, since Axios reported on Monday night that a spokesperson declined to comment, since they were still reviewing the text. 

Shortly before the resolution passed, Rep. Pfluger provided Townhall with a statement acknowledging that "Israel is the United States’ strongest partner in the Middle East. Repeated comments denigrating Israel are unacceptable and disgusting. I am proud to introduce this resolution ensuring all Americans know where their Representatives stand when it comes to supporting Israel and our Jewish communities."

The House just voted to pass a resolution in support of the State of Israel following Democrat Representative Jayapal's statement that it is a "racist state."

Nine Democrats voted against it 👇

Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez
Rep. Andre Carson
Rep. Ayanna Pressley
Rep. Cori Bush… pic.twitter.com/jpwleGDKpu

— Townhall.com (@townhallcom) July 18, 2023

On Monday and Tuesday, Jayapal's official account tweeted and retweeted support from her Democratic colleagues, with such statements of support almost coming off like a hostage situation. 

One of her tweets included shared excerpts from Michelle Goldberg's Monday opinion piece for The New York Times, "The Hysterical Overreaction to Jayapal’s ‘Racist State’ Gaffe." Throughout the piece, Goldberg referred to Jayapal's remarks as "a significant political error," a "rhetorical misstep," a "gaffe," "offhand remarks," and a "slight misstatement." 

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“The rush to condemn her offhand remarks is […] about raising the political price of speaking about Israel forthrightly. […] It’s easier for Israel’s most stalwart boosters to harp on a critic’s slight misstatement”https://t.co/ZkNc9hE4NU

— Rep. Pramila Jayapal (@RepJayapal) July 18, 2023

Goldberg also outright praised the congresswoman in her piece, in addition to finding reasons to complain about the Israeli government:

Jayapal’s clarification was wise: It’s good to be as precise as possible when discussing an issue as fraught and complex as the conflict between Israelis and Palestinians. Her words at Netroots Nation could have been interpreted as ideological opposition to Zionism, which does not reflect Jayapal’s views; like most Democrats, she wants to see a Jewish state alongside a Palestinian one. Nevertheless, the ferocity of the backlash was striking, suggesting a brittle political denial about Israel’s increasingly authoritarian, jingoistic turn.

...

Of course, a state’s leaders and policies can be bigoted without the state itself being irredeemable. That’s basically Jayapal’s stance, which is why she’s not an anti-Zionist. But the rush to condemn her offhand remarks is not about encouraging linguistic rigor. It’s about raising the political price of speaking about Israel forthrightly. If you believe in liberal ideals, Netanyahu’s government is very hard to defend. It’s easier for Israel’s most stalwart boosters to harp on a critic’s slight misstatement — especially when denunciation of Israel is likely to ramp up ahead of the address by Israel’s president, Isaac Herzog, to Congress on Wednesday, which several progressive lawmakers are refusing to attend.

Israel’s most die-hard backers, Jayapal told me, are “feeling that they’ve lost credibility because the Netanyahu government’s policies are so racist, and they want to silence any discussion of any criticism.” She’s right. If Israel’s champions are truly worried about the fallout from accusations of racism, they might act to make them seem less credible.

Goldberg never referred to her remarks as "anti-Israel," and only mentioned them as "antisemitic" when quoting a letter from 43 House Democrats taking issue with their colleagues' remarks. 

Jayapal's tweet was hit with close to 1,400 replies as people took issue with promoting such an opinion piece, especially since from watching the video clip of the incident, and from Goldberg's own description of it, what Jayapal said doesn't exactly amount to "offhand remarks."

So much for the remorse and he walk back lol

— Matt Whitlock (@mattdizwhitlock) July 18, 2023

Doubling down on your antisemitism I see and playing the victim. It wasn't a "slight misstatement."

— Ari Hoffman (@thehoffather) July 18, 2023

“Offhand remarks” and “slight misstatement?” Seriously? Time for a reality check, Michelle. Respectfully, @RepJayapal, this may not be the best rejoinder as you work to move past this unfortunate episode.

— Rick Hirschhaut (@rickhirschhaut) July 18, 2023

Others also shared screenshots of the headline, which included, as our friends at Twitchy pointed out, showing how the outlet has covered antisemitism in such a selective light, including how Goldberg herself has covered it. 

As The Spectator's Stephen Miller pointed out, not only did The New York Times publish Goldberg's piece, they also published Paul Krugman's "Why We Should Politicize the Weather" that very same day. 

So here we are at The NY Times pic.twitter.com/Km1ZR2F2RC

— Stephen L. Miller (@redsteeze) July 18, 2023

As Omri Ceren, an advisor for Sen. Ted Cruz (R-TX) highlighted, Goldberg was fine with excusing such remarks when they came from a Democratic lawmaker, though she had been all too fine complaining about it when she could blame former and potentially future President Donald Trump, a particularly pro-Israel Republican.

"Antisemitism Increased Under Trump. Then It Got Even Worse," Goldberg wrote on April 29, 2022, just a year and some months ago. 

What are the rules today? pic.twitter.com/KCVwwjYq7N

— Omri Ceren (@omriceren) July 18, 2023

As if the eyebrow raising support from The New York Times were not enough, White House Press Secretary Karine Jean-Pierre's response during Tuesday's press briefing when asked about Jayapal's remarks were particularly disappointing. 

Jean-Pierre appeared to initially not understand the question from a reporter asking about if President Joe Biden and Israeli President Isaac Herzog were addressing Jayapal's remarks. 

"I mean, look, the apology was the right thing to do.  And we’ve been very clear: When it comes to antisemitism, this administration and the entire Biden — Biden-Harris administration have been clear that when Israel is — is singled out because of anti-Jewish hate, that’s antisemitism, and that is unacceptable," Jean-Pierre eventually said.

Her response also reflected, however, that what we're seeing is what we're going to get from this administration. "So you already have seen the commitment from this president on how to deal with an issue that we feel is incredibly unacceptable," Jean-Pierre said about Biden's strategies on antisemitism. "So we have been — we’ve been clear on our record.  We’ve been clear on speaking against antisemitism throughout — throughout this administration when we see it."

Jean-Pierre never actually said that the White House condemns Jayapal's remarks. When asked directly "so the White House does condemn that comment," the press secretary tried to offer something else. 

"I mean, I just said, if it is — if — anytime anti-Jewish hatred is — is said, that is antisemitism, and we — and we find it to be unacceptable," she said, also speaking to Jayapal's so-called apology. "But at the same time, we think it’s important that the congresswoman did indeed apologize for her comments, and we’re glad to see it."

When confronted with "I didn't hear whether it was a 'yes' or a 'no' to that question," Jean-Pierre told the reporter that "first of all, we condemn antisemitism.  Anytime there is any anti-Jewish hate, we condemn it.  We’ve been very clear.  That is answering your question."

Karine Jean-Pierre is working overtime to avoid saying that Representative Jayapal's comments about Israel being a "racist state" were anti-Semitic, or offering an explicit condemnation. pic.twitter.com/Vz6j85fa93

— Townhall.com (@townhallcom) July 18, 2023

This is in stark contrast to how she condemned remarks from Robert F. Kennedy, Jr., who is running as a primary challenger against Biden. 

Did you notice a difference in how Karine Jean-Pierre condemned RFK Jr.'s comments, versus how she "condemned" Representative Pramila Jayapal comments? pic.twitter.com/gpBRdhllpN

— Townhall.com (@townhallcom) July 18, 2023

All of this is going on as Herzog is set to address the House this week, though certain Democratic House members, such as Reps. Ilhan Omar (D-MN) and Rashida Tlaib (D-MI), who voted against the resolution, won't be present due to a boycott. Jayapal also won't be present, though she's claiming it's due to a scheduling conflict. 

It wasn't merely a tweet of Goldberg's article that made Jayapal seem less than remorseful. In that same interview with The Seattle Times where she said she had a scheduling conflict, Jayapal complained about a "double standard." 

"It’s not right to call out progressives, but then not recognize that most of us that get called out are women, black, brown, immigrant. You cannot, you just cannot skip over that," Jayapal said during the interview, with the write-up also adding that Jayapal was "asserting a 'double standard' is wielded against progressives."

We've gone over some of the various responses from Jayapal's fellow Democrats, including from House Democratic leadership. It bears repeating over and over, something that House Speaker Kevin McCarthy (R-CA) did when speaking to reporters on Monday, that this has been a pattern from Democratic members. Further, Jayapal isn't just some member, she's the chair of the Congressional Progressive Caucus.

That interview with The Seattle Times also undermined the letter from House Demographic leadership, if it ever had any teeth to begin with:

In the interview Monday, Jayapal said she’d been surprised to see that line leading Jeffries’ statement. “In my conversations with him, that statement was not going to start with that line,” she said, adding, “They did not intend this to be a condemnation of me.”

A Jeffries spokesperson, Christie Stephenson, in an interview said the statement was made in response to Jayapal’s comments yet “was not designed to target any one particular member.”

That the White House would thus be among those so unwilling to call out Jayapal, and be so inconsistent in who it criticizes, speaks volumes. Biden, meanwhile, could hardly have looked worse as he sat down the Herzog.

Does Joe Biden seem okay to you?pic.twitter.com/JHeQntZSW9

— Townhall.com (@townhallcom) July 18, 2023