“We’ve renamed them the Hamas Caucus,” Rep. Waltz said of the Squad.
By Josh Plank, World Israel News
Reps. Mike Waltz (R-Fla.), Jim Banks (R-Ind.), and Claudia Tenney (R-NY) announced Monday that they are moving to censure the group of progressive Democratic lawmakers known as the Squad for defending foreign terrorist organizations and inciting anti-Semitic attacks across the United States.
“We’ve renamed them the Hamas Caucus,” Waltz said of Reps. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (D-NY), Rashida Tlaib (D-Mich.), Ilhan Omar (D-Minn.), and Ayanna Pressley (D-Mass.) in an interview with Fox News on Monday.
The proposed censure resolution accused the “Hamas Caucus” of making false claims that publicly support Hamas, a recognized terrorist organization, and depict Israel as an “oppressive, violent, abusive nation.”
“These false claims, further perpetuated over social media, have resulted in increased violence and anti-Semitic hate crimes throughout the United States,” the resolution said.
“Their actions have been completely unchecked by Democratic leadership in the House, even as vile attacks against Jewish Americans are rising. Enough is enough. Anti-Semitism has no place in Congress or the Democratic Party,” Tenney said in a statement.
“Speaker Pelosi can let members vote on our resolution, or she can cover for the Hamas Caucus and their anti-Israel and anti-American rhetoric. We’ll see,” said Banks.
House Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-Calif.) on Monday told Fox News that renaming the Squad the “Hamas Caucus” was “not constructive.”
“In fact, it’s dangerous for them to speak that way. It’s dangerous to the target of their comments,” she said.
On Sunday, Pelosi told CNN that that the controversy should end in regard to Omar’s recent statement equating the U.S. and Israel to the Taliban and Hamas.
“They can say whatever they want, but what I’m saying is, end of subject. She clarified. We thanked her. End of Subject,” Pelosi said.
Last week, Omar sparked widespread criticism when she tweeted, “We have seen unthinkable atrocities committed by the U.S., Hamas, Israel, Afghanistan, and the Taliban.”
Waltz, Banks, and Tenney aren’t the only lawmakers to suggest a new name for the Squad. Last month, Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene (R-Ga.) dubbed them the “Jihad Squad.”