Jewish Insider: Bipartisan House resolution seeks to condemn ‘antisemitism by public figures’

JEWISH INSIDER, MARC ROD

In the wake of former President Donald Trump’s dinner with rapper Kanye West and white nationalist Nick Fuentes, and West’s recent antisemitic tirades, a bipartisan group of more than 40 House lawmakers has signed on to support a resolution “condemning antisemitism by public figures,” Jewish Insider has learned.

The resolution asserts that “with increasing frequency, influential public figures, celebrities, and foreign government officials use social media platforms to spread their antisemitic, hateful views, including Holocaust denial and praise for Adolf Hitler” and that “there has been a marked increase in prominent public figures using hate speech online.”

The resolution is being led by Reps. Josh Gottheimer (D-NJ), Kathy Manning (D-NC), Brian Fitzpatrick (R-PA) and Don Bacon (R-NE). It began circulating earlier this week and is expected to be formally introduced early next week, JI has learned. Sixteen Republicans have so far signed on as cosponsors of the resolution, which remains open for additional cosponsors.

It follows a string of antisemitic comments by West, including an embrace of Hitler and Holocaust denial. NBA star Kyrie Irving has also come under fire for promoting antisemitic content on social media.

The resolution goes on to condemn rising antisemitism and “calls on national faith leaders of all denominations and Americans of influence to join with current and former elected leaders to use their platforms to speak out against antisemitism.” Trump has resisted calls to explicitly condemn West and Fuentes, and to disavow their antisemitic ideology.

While numerous Republicans have denounced West and Fuentes, some have been hesitant to publicly condemn Trump or directly call on him to apologize or condemn West and Fuentes. Bacon and Fitzpatrick, the two Republican co-leads on the resolution, were among the Republicans who have condemned the Mar-a-Lago event; Fitzpatrick further argued that Trump should offer “an unequivocal apology.”

Other Republican cosponsors include Reps. Nicole Malliotakis (R-NY), Bruce Westerman (R-AR), Bill Johnson (R-OH), David Valadao (R-CA), John Katko (R-NY), Young Kim (R-CA), Anthony Gonzalez (R-OH), Jeff Van Drew (R-NJ), Tom Rice (R-SC), Peter Meijer (R-MI), Dan Meuser (R-PA), David Joyce (R-OH), Fred Upton (R-MI) and Darin LaHood (R-IL).

Other Democratic supporters include Carolyn Maloney (D-NY), Jim Costa (D-CA), Susan Wild (D-PA), Elaine Luria (D-VA), Dean Phillips (D-MN), Bill Pascrell (D-NJ), Susie Lee (D-NV), Bonnie Watson Coleman (D-NJ), Ritchie Torres (D-NY), Yvette Clark (D-NY), David Trone (D-MD), Tom Suozzi (D-NY), Betty McCollum (D-MN), Dina Titus (D-NY), Brad Sherman (D-CA), Mondaire Jones (D-NY), Jared Golden (D-ME), Jimmy Panetta (D-CA), Frank Pallone, Jr. (D-NJ), Abigail Spanberger (D-VA) and Scott Peters (D-CA), as well as Eleanor Holmes Norton, the Democratic delegate representing Washington, D.C.

The resolution also expresses support for “robust education” on antisemitism, the Holocaust and other genocides and reiterates that “it is the responsibility of elected officials to speak up against antisemitism.”

Anti-Defamation League Vice President of Government Relations Max Sevillia told JI the resolution sends “a strong message that celebrities and influential figures who abuse their platforms to spread hate, lies and tropes about Jews will face consequences for their actions. We… deeply appreciate Representatives Gottheimer, Manning, Bacon and Fitzpatrick for their leadership in advancing this resolution in the House.”

The House passed another resolution broadly condemning antisemitism earlier this year by a nearly unanimous vote.