Dems blast Massie over post about Congress and Zionism

Rep. Thomas Massie was condemned by top Democrats and the White House Tuesday for sharing a Drake-inspired meme that suggested Congress embraces Zionism more than American patriotism. 

The Kentucky Republican’s post on X showed one photo of the rapper holding his hand up and looking away with the captions “Congress these days” and “American patriotism.”

In another photo, Drake is seen smiling and pointing toward another caption that reads: “Zionism.”

The meme, which has been viewed more than 3 million times, earned the scorn of the Biden administration.

“All Americans – including @HouseGOP leadership – should condemn this virulent Antisemitism from a sitting member of Congress,” White House communications director Herbie Ziskend tweeted.

Massie was the only Republican to vote against a GOP-backed resolution condemning antisemitism that passed the House Tuesday 311-14.

Thirteen Democrats also voted against the resolution, and 92 Democrats voted present over concerns the resolution stated “anti-Zionism is antisemitism.”

One House Democrat who supported the resolution, Rep. Ritchie Torres, also criticized Massie.

“Thomas Massie, a House Republican, is pitting American patriotism against Zionism,” Torres tweeted. “Most Americans are both pro-America and pro-Israel and see no contradiction between the two.”

Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer also blasted Massie and urged him to remove the post that’s been liked 26,000 times.

“Rep. Massie, you’re a sitting Member of Congress,” the New York Democrat said on social media. “This is antisemitic, disgusting, dangerous, and exactly the type of thing I was talking about in my Senate address.”

Schumer addressed the US Senate last week where he sounded the alarm over an disturbing spike in antisemitism since the Hamas Oct. 7 terror attack on Israel that’s led the Jewish state to launch a military campaign in Gaza.

But Massie was defiant in a follow-up tweet to Schumer.

“If only you cared half as much about our border as you do my tweets,” he said.

House Speaker Mike Johnson’s office told NBC News the White House “would be better spent condemning the 100+ Democrats who refused to support a resolution condemning anti-Semitism today on the House floor” in response to the Biden administration urging GOP leaders to condemn Massie.

Jewish Democratic Reps. Dan Goldman and Jerry Nadler, of New York, and Jamie Raskin, of Maryland encouraged fellow Dems to only vote present on the resolution Tuesday.

“Today’s Resolution … is just the latest unserious attempt by Republicans to weaponize Jewish pain and the serious problem of antisemitism to score cheap political points,” the trio said in a statement.

“Among other problems with this resolution, H. Res. 894 does not account for the complexity of Judaism itself and ignores nuanced examples such as the Satmar sect, a Hasidic Jewish movement, which remains staunchly anti-Zionist and quite obviously is not antisemitic.”

The House overwhelmingly approved a resolution last week that affirmed Israel’s right to exist. Massie and Democrat Rashida Tlaib were the only no votes on that resolution.