Now that Republicans have gotten their act together enough to select a Speaker of the House, business in the chamber might finally be moving along. This applies not only to averting a government shutdown and providing aid to Israel and Ukraine but also to censuring Rep. Rashida Tlaib (D-MI) for her anti-Semitic and anti-Israel remarks, especially as she's tripled down on spreading falsehoods about Israel having bombed a hospital in Gaza when the explosion was caused by a misfired terrorist rockets. That Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene (R-GA) filed the resolution has ruffled some people's feathers, so now we might see the resolution against her come up, too. Regardless, the defenses for the Squad member we've seen are confusing, troubling, and quite hypocritical.
The resolution against Tlaib, as we've covered at Townhall, has to do with her "antisemitic activity, sympathizing with terrorist organizations, and leading an insurrection at the United States Capitol Complex." Earlier this month, Tlaib spoke at an event outside of the Capitol and hysterically repeated the lie about Israeli rockets targeting the hospital, in addition to making other unhinged, anti-Israel remarks. That same day, a pro-Hamas group stormed the Cannon House complex.
It wasn't until over a week later that Tlaib updated her post on X regarding the hospital explosion.
Media outlets and third-party analysts have raised doubts about claims and evidence offered by both Israel and the Gaza Ministry of Health, and I agree with the United Nations that an independent investigation is necessary.
— Rashida Tlaib (@RashidaTlaib) October 25, 2023
Read my full statement:https://t.co/G7lyXrkhmC
As we've also covered at Townhall, those protesters, hundreds of whom were arrested, have been funded by dark money, anti-Israel, anti-zionist, so-called Jewish groups.
That Tlaib is defiant in declaring she won't be "bullied... dehumanized... and silenced" and that her fellow Squad members are standing by her against a resolution that is supposedly "Islamophobic" is hardly surprising. She's similarly declared she won't be "policed" despite spreading falsehoods.
Recommended
My statement on Marjorie Taylor Greene’s effort to censure me. pic.twitter.com/dzUNflJPh2
— Congresswoman Rashida Tlaib (@RepRashida) October 26, 2023
Other members are standing by her as well, though, including Rep. Ro Khanna (D-CA), who put out a statement to his own X account that got wildly decried as he lamented how his colleague's "free speech" is being threatened.
While Khanna was correct in pointing out that he stood up against censoring the New York Post for its coverage of the Hunter Biden laptop story weeks before the 2020 presidential election, censuring Tlaib for anti-Semitic, anti-Israel lies is not quite the same thing. Rep. Ilhan Omar (D-MN), a fellow squad member who has herself made anti-Semitic and anti-Israel remarks, was all too happy to repost this display of support to her political X account.
Say what you will about Democrats, they tend to stick together.
I stood for First Amendment principles & criticized Twitter’s suppression of the @nypost when it was not in my political interest. Will any conservative join me in standing up for Rep Tlaib’s free speech? Will any Republican oppose this censorship? https://t.co/jlXFN4uvxb
— Ro Khanna (@RoKhanna) October 26, 2023
But a particularly hypocritical display of support for Tlaib comes from CNN's Jake Tapper, especially as he sees himself as an arbiter of decrying the rampant rise in anti-Semitic behavior, something he very well should be doing.
His network, though, is a prime example of one spreading pro-Hamas propaganda following the terrorist group's attack on Israel on October 7 that resulted in 1,400 dead Israelis. This especially includes the international anchors, specifically Christiane Amanpour, chief international anchor for the network, and her interview with Queen Rania of Jordan.
In addition to murder, Hamas has committed rape, torture, and kidnapping. Even babies and the elderly were targeted. The official Israel X account released images of babies who had been beheaded and burned not long after the attack, as Townhall covered at the time.
More details of extremely disturbing accounts of what Hamas subjected their victims to continue to come out.
WARNING: The WhatsApp group chat of the Nir Oz Community Group has been published.
— Chaskel Bennett (@ChaskelBennett) October 29, 2023
it is horrific, as one can imagine. I only share it because at this point
we are fighting a pr battle we can not win without authenticated information. This is painful to read, and I couldn't…
Last Sunday, when speaking to former Rep. Liz Cheney (R-WY) on "State of the Union," Tapper pointed out that "we have not [moved on] and we continue to tell those stories on CNN." He was even more forceful about it this Sunday, but he didn't direct his ire at his own network but rather at Republican politicians.
This included going after Greene for her resolution to censure Tlaib.
"The degree to which some folks only pretend to care about anti-Semitism when they can weaponize it never ceases to amaze," he told his viewers as he went on to discuss the resolution, finding it necessary to remind how Tlaib is "the first Palestinian-American woman in Congress." He also used notable language in referencing "accusations of anti-Israel and anti-Semitic statements from Tlaib."
Tapper did go on to mention that "despite all the new evidence, Tlaib waited more than a week to add a clarification to her tweet that others have raised doubts about the claim," adding "she did leave her original tweet up." Instead of focusing his outrage on Tlaib, Tapper questioned the motives of Republicans, asking, "But are House Republicans really in a position to censure Tlaib?" He proceeded to go after Greene and former and potentially future President Donald Trump especially, though even Republicans he felt didn't call them out sufficiently enough weren't spared.
He then sarcastically pointed out to his viewers, "You're never going to believe who the Republican offering this motion to censure Congresswoman Rashida Tlaib is. I want you to take a guess. Go ahead. Take a guess. That's right. It's Marjorie Taylor Greene."
Tapper further denigrated Greene, claiming, "It gets worse because, when you read Greene's resolution, you realize it is, A, written by someone who seems to have learned about the Arab-Israeli conflict maybe 10 minutes before who maybe didn't even have access to Wikipedia."
"And, B, while there are plenty of valid criticisms of Congresswoman Tlaib, this resolution twists a bunch of things that she said beyond recognition. And, C, the resolution seems much more focused on January 6 than it does on October 7," he says, downplaying Tlaib's anti-Semitic and anti-Israel remarks even more so.
Further, the event that Tlaib spoke at and the storming of the Cannon House building didn't take place on October 7 but on October 18.
Happening NOW:
— Wid Lyman (@Wid_Lyman) October 18, 2023
📍U.S. Capitol
Congresswoman @RashidaTlaib speaks to the rally calling for a ceasefire and end of the conflict.
She breaks down stating Israel bombed a hospital killing 500 - this report is now in question
WATCH: pic.twitter.com/fZlHXkUjRc
The scene in the Cannon House Office Building rotunda on Capitol Hill as Hamas sympathizers chant under a banner calling for a “CEASEFIRE.” Of note, demonstrations are not allowed in congressional buildings, per Capitol Police. pic.twitter.com/9RcCIjUzud
— Spencer Brown (@itsSpencerBrown) October 18, 2023
"Throughout its pages, Marjorie Taylor Greene describes this act of civil disobedience from a bunch of left-wing Jewish groups that are critical of Israel's government, this act as an insurrection," Tapper went on to claim. "This is not an insurrection. It might be a bunch of folks with whom you disagree. It might be a bunch of people you think are misguided acting in a way you don't like. But this is not an insurrection."
While that may be how Tapper feels about the situation, the illegal protest resulted in hundreds of arrests. Further, Tapper also downplays the illegal activity that took place, including by refusing to ask the questions here about who sent these people.
"Anti-Semitism is not a cudgel to be used against people for political points, nor is Islamophobia or racism or anti-gay behavior or misogyny or any other kind of bigotry," he continued toward the end, getting into the mind of members like Greene that she is supposedly using it as "a cudgel." He also reminded, "Just over three weeks ago, 1,400 people, mostly Jews, mostly civilians, were slaughtered here in some of the cruelest and most unimaginable ways in the deadliest day for Jews since the Holocaust."
While he may think that Greene may not be the best person to bring about the resolution, and while he may not like the way she is handling anti-Semitism, Squad members like Tlaib are the ones who need those reminders. The congresswoman wouldn't even release a statement; a Detroit-based news outlet posted a statement over X. Tlaib also refused to denounce the beheading of babies.
"This s**t is not a game," he said, concluding the program to hand it off to "Fareed Zakaria GPA," who has himself had on pro-Hamas propagandists on his show.
Jake Tapper on Marjorie Taylor Greene’s Censure Resolution: This shit is not a game. pic.twitter.com/K5gChE9b3x
— Acyn (@Acyn) October 29, 2023
