The House voted late Tuesday to censure Democratic Rep. Rashida Tlaib of Michigan — an extraordinary rebuke of her rhetoric against Jews and her pro-Hamas stance.
The 234-188 tally came after enough Democrats joined with Republicans to censure Tlaib, a punishment just below expulsion from the House. The three-term congresswoman has long been a target of criticism for her pro-genocide statements and actions.
The debate on the censure resolution on Tuesday afternoon was emotional and intense, and Tlaib broke down into tears during the stunning rebuke.
Rashida Tlaib began crying and had to be consoled by Ilhan Omar today on the House floor. pic.twitter.com/4e5dsL2yfI
— Citizen Free Press (@CitizenFreePres) November 7, 2023
Tlaib used the word “resistance” to describe the radical Islamic terrorist attack on Oct. 7 that killed 1,400 Jews, most of them innocent civilians — the worst genocide of Jewish people since the Holocaust.
During the attack, Hamas terrorists reportedly beheaded babies, raped young women next to the corpses of their friends and then executed them, and tortured families in front of each other.
Republican Rep. Rich McCormick of Georgia pushed the measure in response to what he called Tlaib’s promotion of antisemitic rhetoric. He said she has “levied unbelievable falsehoods about our greatest ally, Israel, and the attack on October 7.”
With other Democrats standing by her side, Tlaib wept but defended her antisemitism, saying she “will not be silenced and I will not let you distort my words.” She claimed that her criticism of Israel has always been directed toward its government.
“It is important to separate people and government,” she said. “The idea that criticizing the government of Israel is antisemitic sets a very dangerous precedent. And it’s been used to silence diverse voices speaking up for human rights across our nation.”
All Democrats initially stood by Tlaib and helped defeat the first censure resolution against her last week. But since then many of her own political allies, including prominent Jewish members, said they have become offended by her vile rhetoric, including her chant, “From the river to the sea, Palestine shall be free.”
Ultimately, more than 20 Democrats joined Republicans on Tuesday night to censure her after an effort to shelve the measure failed earlier in the day.
The latest censure push resulted in a dramatic vote on the House floor amid political tensions over the ongoing, deadly war that erupted when Hamas broke an informal ceasefire and slaughtered hundreds of innocent people in their homes in a sneak attack. While the majority of both parties have historically stood firmly on the side of Israel, divisions have emerged in the Democratic Party over support of Hamas’ radical Islamic terror.
Rep. Brad Schneider, D-Ill., the lone Democrat to vote with Republicans on Tuesday to advance the censure resolution, said he believed it was important to debate the slogan “from the river to the sea.”
“It is nothing else but the call for the destruction of Israel and murder of Jews,” the Jewish Democrat said. “I will always defend the right to free speech. Tlaib has the right to say whatever she wants. But it cannot go unanswered.”
While the censure of a lawmaker carries no practical effect, it amounts to severe reproach from colleagues, as lawmakers who are censured are usually asked to stand in the well of the House as the censure resolution against them is read aloud. But the resolution against Tlaib did not call for the public admonishment.
With the vote, Tlaib will become the second member of Congress to be formally admonished this year for her stance on Israel-Palestine. Rep. Ilhan Omar, D-Minn., was removed in February from the House Foreign Affairs Committee for her record of espousing conspiracy theories about Israel.
Tlaib is now the 26th person to ever be censured by the chamber, and the second just this year. In June, Republicans voted to censure Democrat Adam Schiff of California for comments he made several years ago about investigations into then-President Donald Trump’s ties to Russia.
When the House was under Democratic control, Republican Rep. Paul Gosar of Arizona was censured in 2021 for tweeting an animated video that depicted him striking Democratic Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez of New York with a sword. And Democratic Rep. Charlie Rangel of New York was censured in 2010 over serious financial and campaign misconduct.
The Horn editorial team and the Associated Press contributed to this article