WASHINGTON — Rep. Thomas Massie, R-Ky., sparked bipartisan backlash on Tuesday with a tweet about Zionism that the White House called “virulent Antisemitism.”
Massie’s post featured a popular meme format and appeared to imply that Congress was not interested in “American patriotism,” but was interested in “Zionism.”
“All Americans — including @HouseGOP leadership — should condemn this virulent Antisemitism from a sitting member of Congress,” said White House Deputy Communications Director Herbie Ziskend in a post to X.
Massie’s office did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
The office of Speaker Mike Johnson, R-La., said in a statement that President Joe Biden’s efforts “would be better spent condemning the 100+ Democrats who refused to support a resolution condemning anti-Semitism today on the House floor.”
Jewish Democratic Reps. Dan Goldman and Jerry Nadler of New York, as well as Rep. Jamie Raskin of Maryland, had called on their colleagues to vote present on the resolution they called “the latest unserious attempt by Republicans to weaponize Jewish pain and the serious problem of antisemitism to score cheap political points.”
The Republican-authored resolution passed in a 311-14 vote with overwhelming GOP support, while 92 Democrats voted present, 13 voted no and 13 did not vote.
Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer, D-N.Y., also blasted Massie, calling on the Kentucky Republican to take down his post.
“Rep. Massie, you’re a sitting Member of Congress,” Schumer said on X. “This is antisemitic, disgusting, dangerous, and exactly the type of thing I was talking about in my Senate address.”
Massie on Tuesday reposted Schumer’s criticism and tweeted, “If only you cared half as much about our border as you do my tweets.”
Schumer last month delivered a 45-minute speech on the Senate floor in which he warned of the consequences if Americans do not condemn antisemitism.
The blowback to Massie’s tweet also comes as the White House is calling on Congress to pass legislation that includes billions in aid for Ukraine and Israel. Republicans are insisting that any aid package include provisions to address security at the U.S.-Mexico border.
Massie also drew criticism from Matt Brooks, CEO of the Republican Jewish Coalition, who called the post antisemitic, “plain and simple.”
“Shame on you @RepThomasMassie,” Brooks said in a post to X. “You’re a disgrace to the US Congress and to the Republican Party.”
Zionism is often characterized as “the movement for the self-determination and statehood for the Jewish people in their ancestral homeland, the land of Israel,” according to the Anti-Defamation League, an organization that works to combat antisemitism.
Massie’s post had garnered 19,000 likes and was viewed about 2.6 million times as of early Tuesday evening.
Rebecca Kaplan contributed.
Source: | This article originally belongs to Nbcnews.com
