Democrat Rep. Ritchie Torres 'mistakenly' voted against resolution condemning Hamas supporters at universities
New York Rep. Ritchie Torres, a Democrat, said he mistakenly voted against a resolution condemning Hamas supporters on college campuses amid the war between Israeli forces and Hamas terrorists.
House lawmakers approved a resolution Thursday condemning college students' support of Hamas, Hezbollah and other terrorist groups by a 396 to 23 vote.
"As a visible and vocal advocate against antisemitism on college campuses, especially in the wake of October 7th, I have submitted a correction for the record," Torres wrote Thursday on X, the platform formerly known as Twitter.
"I have no use for pro-Hamas protestors, and I despise them with every fiber of my being," he continued.
The resolution calls on university administrators to condemn antisemitism on their campuses and to ensure that Jewish faculty and students can exercise free speech without intimidation following many cases since the Oct. 7 attacks of protests and public statements from pro-Palestinian student groups at universities across the U.S. endorsing Hamas' attacks against Israel, as well as instances of Jewish people on campuses facing threats and harassment.
Rep. Thomas Massie (R-Ky.) was the only Republican to vote against the resolution, joining more than 20 Democrats, including progressive Reps. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez and Jamaal Bowman of New York, Ilhan Omar of Minnesota, Ayanna Pressley of Massachusetts and Rashida Tlaib of Michigan.
"Free speech means protecting speech you don’t like, not just speech you do like," Massie wrote on X to explain the rationale behind his vote. "Also, who defines antisemitism?"
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The GOP congressman has condemned Hamas' terror attack against Israel.
Torres and fellow pro-Israel Democrat Rep. Brad Schneider, of Illinois, each criticized House Speaker Mike Johnson's, R-La., $14.3 billion aid package for Israel because the bill pulls the aid for Israel from funding allocated for the Internal Revenue Service through Democrats' Inflation Reduction Act passed last year.
"The cheap cynical game that Speaker Johnson is playing sets a dangerous precedent for conditioning emergency aid. It represents a dangerous politicizing of Israel in a time of war," Torres wrote on Thursday on X. "It represents a dangerous decision to pursue division over unity and politics over principle. The House should vote on a clean bill, with no poison bills, that would send an overwhelmingly bipartisan message of unconditional unity around Israel. Our ally deserves nothing less in its moment of greatest need."