(The Center Square) – Three North Carolina Democrats late Tuesday night were among the 22 yes votes to censure Michigan Democratic Rep. Rashida Tlaib for her rhetoric about the war in Israel.
The reprimand is one step lower in severity behind expulsion from the U.S. House of Representatives. The vote was 234-188 against the only Palestinian American in Congress. She was not asked to stand in the well of the House as the censure was read, as is usually done. It came exactly a month after the Oct. 7 beginning of the latest war between Hamas and Israel.
North Carolina’s 14 representatives are evenly split between the major parties, and all Republicans voted yes. The trio joining them happen to be linked as at-risk incumbents via redistricting maps passed in October – Reps. Wiley Nickel in the Triangle, Kathy Manning in the Triad, and Don Davis in the eastern part of the state.
Manning’s statement read, “Despite United States intelligence that debunks Congresswoman Tlaib’s inaccurate claims, she continues to spread false information online, blaming Israel for atrocities carried out by Hamas. She has repeatedly spread Hamas’ inflammatory propaganda by defending the use of slogans such as ‘from the river to the sea’, which calls for the destruction of the State of Israel and genocide of the Jewish people.”
On official website pages, Nickel and Davis did not issue statements.
The Democratic quartet voting against the censure were Reps. Deborah Ross, Valerie Foushee, Alma Adams and Jeff Jackson.
Republicans voting yes were Reps. Greg Murphy, Virginia Foxx, David Rouzer, Dan Bishop, Richard Hudson, Patrick McHenry and Chuck Edwards.
The resolution was spearheaded by Rep. Rich McCormick, R-Ga., citing promotion of antisemitic rhetoric, and saying Tlaib “levied unbelievable falsehoods about our greatest ally, Israel, and the attack on Oct. 7.” Tlaib, who has family in the West Bank, said her criticism is and has been directed at the government and Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu.
Tlaib withstood a censure resolution last week with no Democrats voting yes. She’s the second Muslim-American congresswoman this year – Rep. Ilhan Omar, D-Minn., in February was the other – to be formally admonished for criticism of Israel. Though less extraordinary than 15 years ago, previously the House had only censured 24 members.
