We've been covering the recent anti-Israel remarks made by Rep. Pramila Jayapal (D-WA), who serves as the Congressional Progressive Caucus chair, last weekend when she stood up to tell rowdy "Free Palestine" protesters at the Netroots Nation conference, "We have been fighting to make it clear that Israel is a racist state." Her words resulted in pushback from some fellow Democrats, while Rep. August Pfluger (R-TX) drew up a resolution in favor of Israel. It overwhelmingly – but not unanimously – passed the Republican-controlled House on Tuesday. It's not just House Democrats who smear those who dare to call out Jayapal for her remarks, but the leftist media as well.
Democrat Rep. Pramila Jayapal attempts to appease so-called "Free Palestine" protesters after they hijacked a leftist conference: "We have been fighting to make it clear that Israel is a racist state!" pic.twitter.com/9p2aX6uh4F
— RNC Research (@RNCResearch) July 15, 2023
Michelle Goldberg provided such an example in an opinion piece for The New York Times on Monday, "The Hysterical Overreaction to Jayapal's 'Racist State' Gaffe." Ursula Perano of The Daily Beast jumped in, too, with Tuesday night's "GOP Seizes on Pramila Jayapal's Israel Misstep to Split Democrats."
Perano's article serves as a long rant against how the "GOP Seizes" on the issue, while also downplaying some seriously rampant antisemitism within the Democratic Party:
House Democrats—part of a party that has deep divides and nuanced disagreements about Israel—were left with little options other than to vote the resolution up or down.
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While the news cycle started with Jayapal’s comment on Saturday, by Tuesday, it was House Republicans who were trying to get one more spin out of the news cycle.
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“House [Democratic] leadership don't punish their Antisemitic members when they make bigoted comments and are closet believers that Israel is a racist state—proven by their refusal to whip this vote,” NRCC press secretary Will Reinert wrote in a statement.
House Republicans have made a point this term of putting messaging bills on the floor to pin Democrats on tough issues. The resolution is just the latest example.
As things go in Congress, even Jayapal’s best attempts to clarify her remarks couldn’t slow the messaging death spiral.
Democratic leadership did not push members to vote one way or another on the resolution, and the Democratic lawmaker who wished to remain anonymous said the issue wasn’t discussed in a Democratic Caucus meeting Tuesday morning. The Progressive Caucus also didn’t publicly take a stand on the vote.
That left Democrats in a curious position. The vast majority of them simply voted with Republicans, attempting to just put the whole issue behind them.
As Perano herself acknowledged, 43 Democratic House members willingly signed onto a letter calling Jayapal out for her anti-Israel remarks. House Democratic leadership released a statement as well, though they didn't whip the vote, as Perano mentioned.
Considering how much the article downplays antisemitism in the Democratic Party, including and especially from those members who voted against the resolution, like Reps. Ilhan Omar (D-MN) and Rashida Tlaib (D-MI), it's no surprise that the article would make it an issue about Republicans "trying to get one more spin out of the news cycle."
In reality, as House Speaker Kevin McCarthy (R-CA) himself pointed out to reporters on Monday, "the only time action has ever been taken is when we had to take the action."
Kevin McCarthy calls out Rep. Jayapal for calling Israel a “racist state.” pic.twitter.com/nbfWzS3ElU
— Townhall.com (@townhallcom) July 17, 2023
There was a severely watered-down resolution from the Democratically-controlled House in 2019 that was supposed to condemn antisemitism, in response to Omar's repeated antisemitic remarks. In February, with Republicans in control, the House voted to remove Omar from the House Committee on Foreign Affairs.
Our friends at Twitchy pointed to how the reactions included pointing out the selective concern from The Daily Beast over antisemitism.
This you?
— Amy Curtis (@RantyAmyCurtis) July 19, 2023
Why is this (D)ifferent? https://t.co/NMW5xdO48K pic.twitter.com/GlaeXBWd13
Although Jayapal did ultimately vote in favor of the resolution, she shared a statement that, like The Daily Beast, condemned the Republican resolution as one that supposedly "had clear political motivations." She took a similar stance during an interview with The Seattle Times published on Monday.
"I will not play into Republicans' political games of distractions that they clearly prefer over doing the work of real legislation to help working families and poor people across our country," Jayapal's statement also said in part, as if it was Republicans who goaded her into saying "Israel is a racist state."
My statement on H.Con.Res. 57: pic.twitter.com/woaW1etrzH
— Rep. Pramila Jayapal (@RepJayapal) July 18, 2023
Ever since the incident occurred, Jayapal has been retweeting statements of support from her Democratic colleagues. One recent statement of support comes from Rep. Ayanna Pressley (D-MA), who similarly portrayed Jayapal as a victim.
Pressley's tweet claimed that their colleagues were "more concerned with silencing a woman of color for speaking truth to power than ending human rights abuses abroad," which she also said was "a damning commentary on the state of our Congress."
Pressley was one of nine members to vote against the resolution, the others included Reps. Omar, Tlaib, Jamaal Bowman (D-NY), Cori Bush (D-MO), Andre Carson (D-IN), Summer Lee (D-PA), Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (D-NY), and Delia Ramirez (D-IL ). Rep. Betty McCollum (D-MN) voted "present."
That my colleagues would be more concerned with silencing a woman of color for speaking truth to power than ending human rights abuses abroad is a damning commentary on the state of our Congress. https://t.co/HW8rWGtOcL
— Ayanna Pressley (@AyannaPressley) July 18, 2023
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