McCarthy: Democrats need to ‘do something’ about antisemitic remarks

House Speaker Kevin McCarthy (R-Calif.) Monday called on Democrats to “do something” about antisemitic remarks being made by members of their caucus, after Rep. Pramila Jayapal (D-Wash.) stirred up a firestorm for calling Israel a “racist state,” a comment she later walked back.

Asked about Jayapal’s comments — which were made during a progressive conference Saturday — McCarthy noted Democrats who have come under fire in the past for making antisemitic remarks, telling reporters “this isn’t the first person in the Democratic conference that has continued to make antisemitic comments.”

“We’ve watched what they have continually to do,” he continued. “There are a number of them over there. I think if the Democrats want to believe that they do not have a conference that continues to make antisemitic remarks, they need to do something about it.”

He specifically called on House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries (D-N.Y.) to “prove” that Democrats are not antisemitic.

“I think this is a role for the leader, Hakeem, to prove that no, they’re not antisemitic,” McCarthy said. “And they cannot allow their members to continue to see what they have said in the past.”

Jayapal, after a panel discussion was interrupted by a group of Palestinian protesters, told a crowd at a progressive conference Saturday, “I want you to know that we have been fighting to make it clear that Israel is a racist state, that the Palestinian people deserve self-determination and autonomy.”

She walked those comments back one day later, writing in a statement, “I do not believe the idea of Israel as a nation is racist,” while criticizing the Israeli government led by conservative Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu.

Jayapal’s comments sparked criticism from both sides of the aisle, which included a rare joint statement from House Democratic leadership that said “Israel is not a racist state” and underscored the relationship between Washington and Jerusalem, all without naming Jayapal.

The controversy comes as lawmakers prepare to welcome Israeli President Isaac Herzog to the Capitol Wednesday for a speech to a joint meeting of Congress. A number of progressive lawmakers have said they plan to boycott the address.

Reading from a piece of paper Monday, McCarthy cited previous remarks made by Rep. Ilhan Omar (D-Minn.), who was criticized in 2021 after equating the U.S. and Israel to the Taliban and Hamas terrorist groups while discussing war crimes. The comments prompted a rare joint statement of condemnation from House Democratic leadership. Omar, however, said she was not making a “moral comparison.”

McCarthy also quoted Omar’s tweet from 2019, in which she suggested money was motivating American lawmakers to defend Israel. The tweet read, “It’s all about the Benjamins baby,” which Omar later apologized for. And McCarthy noted another comment from Omar that year, when she said pro-Israel advocates were pushing “allegiance to a foreign country.”

House Republicans voted to remove Omar from the Foreign Affairs Committee in February, shortly after they took the majority, as a rebuke for her previous comments that were accused of being antisemitic.

McCarthy also read off a 2019 comment from Rep. Rashida Tlaib (D-Mich.), when she said in an interview that she gets “a calming feeling” when she thinks of “the tragedy of the Holocaust and the fact that it was my ancestors, Palestinians, who lost their land and some lost their lives, their livelihood, their human dignity, their existence in many ways, have been wiped out, and some people’s passports.”

And he cited a resolution introduced by Rep. Betty McCollum (D-Minn.) in 2021 to condemn Israel’s decision to designate Palestinian human rights and civil society groups as “terrorist organizations.”

“These are just multiple Democrats on multiple times consistently saying antisemitic remarks and it has got to stop,” McCarthy said. “These are all individuals in the Democratic conference. Do they think Israel is an evil state? Well if they believe differently they should take action against their own for the comments coming from their leadership within their own Democratic Party, and that’s wrong.”

Jayapal is the chair of the Congressional Progressive Caucus.

The situation surrounding Jayapal’s comments came after a House Republican saw his fair share of criticism following remarks he later had to walk back.

Last week, during debate on the annual defense bill, Rep. Eli Crane (R-Ariz.) referred to African Americans as “colored people” on the House floor, which prompted criticism from both sides of the aisle.

Rep. Joyce Beatty (D-Ohio), a former chair of the Congressional Black Caucus, asked that his comment be stricken from the official congressional record, which was granted.

Crane in a statement said he “misspoke” on the House floor. McCarthy told reporters the comment was “not acceptable,” but said he would “take him at his word.”