Jewish group criticizes Rep. Thomas Massie's lone 'no' vote on antisemitism resolution

U.S. Rep. Thomas Massie, a Northern Kentucky Republican, was the only House member to vote against a resolution this week that condemned rising antisemitism in the nation and world.

The American Jewish Committee publicly criticized Massie, who votes against things so often he got the nickname "Mr. No."

"It's Jewish (American) Heritage Month," the national group's chief field operations officer, Melanie Maron Pell of Louisville, told The Courier Journal. "In a moment when not a whole lot gets overwhelming support — bipartisan support — this should not have been hard. This should not have been a hard one for him, to support and recognize that antisemitism is on the rise."

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The resolution Massie voted against Wednesday afternoon includes several non-binding calls to action, including:

• Calling on "elected officials, faith leaders, and civil society leaders" to condemn all forms of antisemitism;

• Urging elected officials to condemn "all denials and distortions of the Holocaust" and to promote education about the Holocaust and antisemitism;

• Calling for intensifying U.S. cooperation with other governments to fight global antisemitism;

• Urging social media sites to do more to measure and deal with antisemitism online "while protecting free speech concerns;"

• Offering the House's support for boosting Jewish institutions' physical security, which could involve providing more funding to help with that.

Massie tweeted at about 1 a.m. Thursday saying: "If we just voted based on the names of the bills, I’d vote for almost all of them." He did not specifically mention the resolution on antisemitism.

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He tweeted directly about the resolution Thursday afternoon, saying:

"I don’t hate anyone based on his or her ethnicity or religion. Legitimate government exists, in part, to punish those who commit unprovoked violence against others, but government can’t legislate thought. This bill promoted internet censorship and violations of the 1st amendment."

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Pell, of the American Jewish Committee, said it's important for members of Congress to show recognition — as the House of Representatives did Wednesday, by voting 420-1 to approve this resolution — that antisemitism is a legitimate, serious and increasing problem here in the U.S.

"The Jewish community is feeling vulnerable," she said. "And we expect our elected officials to speak up ... and demonstrate that they both recognize there’s a problem and stand with the Jewish community."

Pell said voting in support of this congressional resolution condemning antisemitism was "like the lowest threshold required," adding that other members of Congress who "have been problematic in different ways for many in the Jewish community" supported this measure.

Recent instances of antisemitism as well as Jewish individuals' direct experiences with that longstanding form of hate across the nation have been reported by the AJC and other organizations.

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Pell indicated Massie's 'no' vote this week was especially concerning as the country grapples with a mass shooting in Buffalo, New York. A white man is charged with killing 10 people and injuring three more individuals, nearly all of them Black.

The accused shooter posted documents online that talked about a racist conspiracy theory that's rooted in white supremacy and antisemitism.

Massie's lone 'no' vote wasn't surprising, Pell said, but it was still disappointing. (It's worth noting that while Massie was the only person who voted against the resolution, eight other House Republicans did not cast a vote on the resolution Wednesday. None of those eight were from Kentucky.)

More: Thomas Massie shares supposed Voltaire quote. Its real source: A reported neo-Nazi

Pell pointed to other past actions by Massie that she indicated were similarly troubling, including:

• Voting against a 2020 bill to fund efforts to help educate students about the Holocaust;

• Voting against an extra $1 billion for Israel's Iron Dome anti-rocket defense system in 2021;

• Opposing aid for Ukraine in the wake of Russia's recent invasion;

• Posting a tweet that compared so-called "vaccine passports" — a buzzword that basically references some form of verification that a person has gotten vaccinated against COVID-19 — to the identification numbers Nazis tattooed on people who were abused and murdered in the Auschwitz concentration camp during the Holocaust.

Morgan Watkins is The Courier Journal's chief political reporter. Contact her at mwatkins@courierjournal.com. Follow her on Twitter: @morganwatkins26.

This article originally appeared on Louisville Courier Journal: KY Rep. Thomas Massie voted 'no' on measure condemning antisemitism