What's in a name? A lot when you criticize the wrong “Josh.”
That's what happened when clash between two far-left House Democrats on moderate Rep. Josh Gottheimer (D-N.J.) took wrong turn when one confused him with Josh Shapiro.
It all started when Gottheimer criticized the growing influence of democratic socialists within the Democratic Party.
"The DSA are not Democrats. They’re socialists, who want to hijack the Democratic Party," he wrote in an X post Monday.
"The Democrats have a big tent. That’s our strength. We embrace a range of ideas — but there’s no room for anti-American bomb-throwers who oppose our ideas, values, & leaders."
https://x.com/RepJoshG/status/2079234888918843442?s=20
On Tuesday, Rep. Summer Lee (D-Pa.) fired back and accused him of being among the Democrats who "sign bombs and vote to drop them." That was actually her own governor — Gov. Josh Shapiro (D).
https://x.com/RepSummerLee/status/2079669201971671262?s=20
Shapiro, not Gottheimer, signed an artillery shell bound for Ukraine during President Volodymyr Zelenskyy’s 2024 visit to Pennsylvania, per a Fox News Digital report in September 2024.
"You know that’s the other Jewish guy named Josh, right?" Gottheimer said in response to Lee.
https://x.com/RepJoshG/status/2079673421529600327?s=20
"Squad" Rep. Ilhan Omar, (D-Minn.) “defend Lee, writing that had signed "the bombs you voted to be dropped."
https://x.com/IlhanMN/status/2079705868593983574?s=20
Neither Omar nor Lee identified a specific vote.
However, Gottheimer by pointed out both Lee and Omar voted for a $60.8 billion Ukraine aid package before Shapiro signed the Ukraine-bound artillery shell.
"Ilhan, you know who else voted for it?" Gottheimer said. He included a screenshot of the "Official House Roll Call" for the April 2024 vote on H.R. 8035. "You."
https://x.com/RepJoshG/status/2079730367397822598?s=20
Gottheimer has accused his own party of applying a double standard to antisemitism. In a May New York Times opinion piece, the Jewish congressman wrote Democrats condemn antisemitism from the political right but are often silent when it emerges from the far left, calling the disparity a "glaring double standard."
That divide has widened over support for Israel.
According to the official House roll call, Lee and Omar were among 103 Democrats who voted last week for a failed amendment from Rep. Thomas Massie (R-Ky.) that “would have prohibited funds in the underlying bill from being used for Israel and reduced the foreign military financing account by $3.3 billion. Gottheimer voted against the amendment,” Fox News reported.