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Greene calls Gaza humanitarian crisis a ‘genocide'

Greene calls Gaza humanitarian crisis a ‘genocide'

The Hill2 days ago
Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene (R-Ga.) called the humanitarian crisis in Gaza a 'genocide' in a social media, appearing to be the first Republican in Congress to use the term to describe the situation.
'It's the most truthful and easiest thing to say that Oct 7th in Israel was horrific and all hostages must be returned, but so is the genocide, humanitarian crisis, and starvation happening in Gaza,' Greene said in a post on X on Monday night.
Her comment came as part of a larger response criticizing fellow Republican Rep. Randy Fine (R-Fla.), one of three Jewish Republicans in the House who joined the chamber after a special election earlier this year.
Greene dug into Fine over his recent social media posts about the conflict, including denying that there is starvation in Gaza.
'There is no starvation. Everything about the 'Palestinian' cause is a lie,' Fine said in a post on Sunday. Last week, Fine posted: 'Release the hostages. Until then, starve away.'
Trump on Monday said there was 'real starvation' happening in Gaza and that the U.S. would do more to address it.
'I can only imagine how Florida's 6th district feels now that their Representative, that they were told to vote for, openly calls for starving innocent people and children,' Greene said, before going on to make her comment about the genocide.
'But a Jewish U.S. Representative calling for the continued starvation of innocent people and children is disgraceful. His awful statement will actually cause more antisemitism,' Greene said.
Fine's office did not immediately respond to a request for comment, and he has not yet responded on social media.
Greene's stance marks a major break with her party, and an escalation of her criticism of Israel — and U.S. financial support for Israel — as the war in Gaza drags on.
Over the weekend she posted that 'what has been happening to innocent people and children in Gaza is horrific.'
Earlier this month, Greene introduced an amendment to cut funding to Israel's missile defense, which failed in a 6-422 vote.
Greene has previously been accused of antisemitism, most famously over a 2018 Facebook post that has come to be known as the 'Jewish space laser' post — though Greene never used that phrase.
In the post, Greene in which she floated that a 'laser beam or light beam' from 'space solar generators' could be to blame for wildfires in California, also mentioning the 'Rothschild Inc.' Greene later said she did not know the Rothschilds have long been at the center of antisemitic conspiracy theories.
Greene also voted against an antisemitism awareness bill last year, saying it would define antisemitic behavior to include remarks about Jews killing Jesus, which she said went against the Bible.
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Texas redistricting: Making sense of the high-stakes fight that could decide who controls Congress
Texas redistricting: Making sense of the high-stakes fight that could decide who controls Congress

Yahoo

time12 minutes ago

  • Yahoo

Texas redistricting: Making sense of the high-stakes fight that could decide who controls Congress

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Draft Texas congressional map pits Democratic incumbents against each other, spelling possible primary clashes
Draft Texas congressional map pits Democratic incumbents against each other, spelling possible primary clashes

Yahoo

time12 minutes ago

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Draft Texas congressional map pits Democratic incumbents against each other, spelling possible primary clashes

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Be there when all-star leaders, innovators and newsmakers take the stage in downtown Austin, Nov. 13–15. The newest additions include comedian, actor and writer John Mulaney; Dallas mayor Eric Johnson; U.S. Sen. Amy Klobuchar, D-Minnesota; New York Media Editor-at-Large Kara Swisher; and U.S. Rep. Veronica Escobar, D-El Paso. Get your tickets today! TribFest 2025 is presented by JPMorganChase. Solve the daily Crossword

Josh Hawley says he had 'good chat' with Trump after dustup over stock trading bill
Josh Hawley says he had 'good chat' with Trump after dustup over stock trading bill

Yahoo

time12 minutes ago

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Josh Hawley says he had 'good chat' with Trump after dustup over stock trading bill

WASHINGTON (AP) — Sen. Josh Hawley is brushing off President Donald Trump's quip that he's a 'second-tier' senator after the Republican's proposal to ban stock trading by members of Congress — and the president and vice president — won bipartisan approval to advance in a committee vote. The Missouri Republican told Fox News late Wednesday that it's 'not the worst thing' he's ever been called and that he and the president 'had a good chat' clearing up confusion over the bill. The misunderstanding, Hawley said, was that Trump would have to sell his Mar-a-Lago private club and other assets. 'Not the case at all,' Hawley said on 'Jesse Watters Primetime.' It was the second time in many days that Trump laid into senators in his own party as the president tries, sometimes without success, to publicly pressure them to fall in line. Earlier, Trump tore into veteran GOP Sen. Chuck Grassley of Iowa over an obscure Senate procedure regarding nominations. In a social media post, Trump called Hawley a 'second-tier Senator' who was playing into the hands of Democrats. Trump added: 'I don't think real Republicans want to see their President, who has had unprecedented success, TARGETED, because of the 'whims' of a second-tier Senator named Josh Hawley!' Stock trading bans gain support Stock trading by members of Congress has long been an issue that both parties have tried to tackle, especially as some elected officials have become wealthy while in elected office. During the COVID-19 pandemic, in particular, it was disclosed that lawmakers were trading as information about the health crisis before it became public. Insider trading laws don't always apply to the types of information lawmakers receive. Hawley's legislation with the panel's top Democrat, Sen. Gary Peters of Michigan, sailed out of the Senate's Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs Committee, after his support delivered a bipartisan vote over the objections of the other Republicans, who have majority control. GOP senators had been working with the White House on the stock trade bill, and some supported a broad carve-out to exclude the president from the ban, but it failed, with Hawley joining Democrats to block it. Trump also complained that Hawley joined with Democrats to block another amendment that would have investigated the stock trades of Democratic Rep. Nancy Pelosi, the speaker emerita, and her spouse. Paul Pelosi has been a much-watched trader, but the California lawmaker's office said she personally does not own stock. Hawley said after his conversation with Trump that the president 'reiterated to me he wants to see a ban on stock trading by people like Nancy Pelosi and members of Congress, which is what we passed.' The senator also suggested the Democratic leader should be prosecuted, but it's not clear on what grounds. Pelosi supports Hawley's bill Pelosi has said repeatedly that she's not involved in her husband's work on investments, strongly supports the bill and looks forward to voting for it in the House. 'The American people deserve confidence that their elected leaders are serving the public interest — not their personal portfolios,' she said. In a joint statement, Hawley and Peters said the legislation, called the Honest Act, builds on an earlier bill and would ban members of Congress, the president, vice president and their spouses from holding, buying or selling stock. An earlier proposal from Hawley, named after Pelosi, had focused more narrowly on lawmakers. If the bill were to become law, it would immediately prohibit elected officials, including the president, from buying stocks and would ban them from selling stocks for 90 days after enactment. It also requires the elected officials to divest from all covered investments, but not until the beginning of their next term in office — shielding the term-limited president from that requirement. 'We have an opportunity here today to do something that the public has wanted to do for decades,' Hawley told the panel. 'And that is to ban members of Congress from profiting on information that frankly only members of Congress have on the buying and selling of stock.' During the committee hearing, tensions flared as Republicans sought other approaches. Republicans fail to exempt Trump from stock trading ban GOP Sen. Rick Scott of Florida proposed one amendment that would exempt the president, the vice president, their spouses and dependent children from the legislation, and the other one that would have required a report on the Pelosi family's trades. Both were defeated, with Hawley joining the Democrats. 'We are one step closer to getting this bill passed into law and finally barring bad actors from taking advantage of their positions for their own financial gain,' Peters said in a statement. One Republican, Sen. Ron Johnson of Wisconsin, said the overall bill is 'legislative demagoguery.' 'We do have insider trading laws. We have financial disclosure. Trust me, we have financial disclosure,' Johnson said. 'So I don't see the necessity of this.' GOP's Grassley 'offended' by Trump's personal attack Trump's post criticizing Hawley comes after a similar blowback directed Tuesday night at Grassley. In that post, Trump pressured Grassley to do away with the Senate's longtime 'blue slip' custom that often forces bipartisan support on presidential nominations of federal judges. The practice requires both senators in a state to agree to push a nominee forward for a vote. Trump told Grassley to do away with the practice. 'Senator Grassley must step up,' Trump said, while claiming that he helped the senator, who was first elected in 1980, to win reelection. Grassley earlier Wednesday said he was 'offended' by what the president said. Error while retrieving data Sign in to access your portfolio Error while retrieving data Error while retrieving data Error while retrieving data Error while retrieving data

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