At least 80 House Democrats, including former Speaker Pelosi and several Senate Democrats, will boycott Netanyahu’s speech in Congress.
The list of House Democrats is still growing, but as of press time, at least 80 have announced they will not attend Netanyahu’s speech.
CNN’s Jim Acosta reports that “dozens of members of Congress, including former House Speaker Nancy Pelosi, plan to skip the speech , either in protest or because of quoted or unquoted scheduling conflicts.
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.@acosta “Dozens of members of Congress, including former House Speaker Nancy Pelosi, plan to skip the speech, either in protest or because of, quote or unquote, scheduling conflicts.” pic.twitter.com/bWYmWbSJYS
—PoliticusUSA (@politicususa) July 24, 2024
The New York Times also reported:
In the Senate, several members of the Democratic caucus planned to skip the speech, including the No. 2 leader, Sen. Richard J. Durbin of Illinois, and the president pro tempore, Sen. Patty Durbin of Washington. Patty Murray.
Democratic Sens. Jeff Merkley of Oregon and Vermont independent Bernie Sanders also plan to abstain. Sen. Chris Van Hollen, D-Md., who said in an interview that he was skipping class, said of Mr. Netanyahu: “I don’t want to be the political party to this deception. supporter because he is not a great guardian of the U.S.-Israel relationship.
It is possible for Netanyahu to support Israel without supporting Israel Trump, even including the corruption and criminal charges he faces. Every Democrat must make a voter choice in an election year. For Democrats who represent Jewish districts in the House of Representatives, attending the speech makes political sense, but a boycott is justified given the Netanyahu government’s actions in Gaza.
Republicans are treating the speech as an election-year stunt, and those who boycott would be better off not attending.
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