Democratic Rep. Hakeem Jeffries of New York, the House minority leader, voted “present” Tuesday on a resolution condemning antisemitism.
Jeffries was one of 92 Democrats who voted “present” on H. Res. 894, introduced by Republican Rep. David Kustoff of Tennessee. The resolution passed by a 311-14 vote, according to the Clerk of the House of Representatives.
Jeffries, who came under fire from the Democratic Socialists of America for speaking at a pro-Israel rally in Washington, D.C., in November, did not release a statement on his official website or post anything on X, formerly known as Twitter, as of this writing, and did not immediately respond to the Daily Caller News Foundation’s request for comment.
A number of pro-Hamas protests since Israel began military operations in response to the Oct. 7 attack by the radical Islamic terrorist group that killed over 1,400 people have featured speakers praising Hamas. Chants of “from the river to the sea,” a slogan which has connotations of wiping out Israel, have taken place during some of the protests.
The resolution singled out the chants of “from the river to the sea” as one of the antisemitic acts it condemned. It also cited the killing of Paul Kessler by a pro-Palestinian protester in Los Angeles and a violent Nov. 15 protest where pro-Palestine demonstrators blocked entrances to the Democratic National Committee’s headquarters, injuring six police officers.
Jeffries previously defended Louis Farrakhan and his uncle, Leonard Jeffries, who both have made several antisemitic statements, in an article he wrote while in college, The Times of Israel reported.
“Dr. Jeffries has challenged the existing white supremacist educational system and long-standing distortion of history,” Hakeem Jeffries wrote in a student newspaper at the time. “His reward has been a media lynching complete with character assassinations and inflammatory erroneous accusations.”
Harold Hutchison on December 5, 2023
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