Republican Rep. Thomas Massie is accused of anti-Semitism for sharing Drake meme suggesting Zionism controls Congress: Chuck Schumer calls it ‘disgusting’ and White House demands GOP leadership condemn him
Top Democrats have condemned Rep. Thomas Massie for posting a meme featuring rapper Drake suggesting Congress has done more to support Zionism than American patriotism.
'Representative. Massie, you are a sitting congressman. This is anti-Semitic, disgusting, dangerous and exactly the kind of thing I talked about in my Senate speech. Take this down,” Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer DY wrote in response to the meme.
Massie's post came as the House of Representatives overwhelmingly passed a resolution affirming that anti-Semitism is synonymous, in a new vote to support Israel in its war against Gaza.
The vote was 311 to 14, with 92 Democrats voting “present” and 17 members not voting.
Thirteen Democrats, including Reps. Jamaal Bowman, N.Y., Cori Bush, Mo., Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, N.Y., and Rashida Tlaib, R-N.Y., voted against the measure.
Only Massie voted against it on the Republican side.
“All Americans – including the @HouseGOP leadership – should condemn this virulent anti-Semitism from a sitting member of Congress,” White House Deputy Communications Director Herbie Ziskend said in response to Massie's meme.
Massie and Tlaib were the only members of the House of Representatives to vote against a resolution reaffirming Israel's right to exist last week.
That resolution stated: “Denying Israel's right to exist is a form of anti-Semitism,” with which Massie disagreed.
“Anti-Semitism is deplorable, but expanding it to include criticism of Israel does not help,” Massie wrote on X.
Tuesday's resolution, introduced by Jewish Republicans David Kustoff, R-Tenn., and Max Miller, R-Ohio, condemns anti-Semitism and states “clearly and firmly that anti-Zionism is anti-Semitism.”
Top Democrats have rep. Thomas Massie Convicted of Posting a Meme Featuring Rapper Drake Suggesting Congress Has Done More to Support Zionism Than American Patriotism
'Representative. Massie, you are a sitting congressman. This is anti-Semitic, disgusting, dangerous and exactly the kind of thing I talked about in my Senate speech. Take this down,” Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer DY wrote in response to the meme
Thirteen Democrats, including Reps. Jamaal Bowman, N.Y., Cori Bush, Mo., Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, N.Y., and Rashida Tlaib, R-N.Y., voted against the measure
A group of Jewish Democrats, including Reps. Jerry Nadler and Dan Goldman, both of New York, and Jamie Raskin of Maryland, voted in favor of the resolution, calling it Republicans' “latest, unserious attempt to weaponize Jewish pain.” .'
They noted that the House already adopted a resolution last week with the same statement.
The group also noted that there are Jewish anti-Zionists, including the Satmar sect, who are “obviously not anti-Semitic.”
Some liberals have expressed concern that such sentiment could lead to criticism of the Israeli government being labeled as anti-Semitism.
The Merriam-Webster definition of anti-Zionism is “opposition to the creation or support of the State of Israel.” The definition for anti-Semitism is: 'hostility toward or prejudice against Jewish people.'
The resolution was put forward after the Anti-Defamation League reported a sharp increase in anti-Semitic incidents since the October 7 Hamas attack on Israel.
It came as Republicans in the House of Representatives brought in Jewish students to talk about anti-Semitism on their college campuses.
An MIT student said she had to leave her promotional group because her group members told her that “the people at the Nova music festival deserve to die because they were partying on stolen land.”
A student at New York University told reporters, “I hear calls to gas the Jews and I am told Hitler was right.”