Jamie Raskin Still Refuses To Condemn Squad Member For Using Antisemitic Slogan

Democratic Rep. Jamie Raskin of Maryland refused to condemn Democratic Rep. Rashida Tlaib of Michigan’s use of a slogan calling for wiping out Israel during a Friday CNN appearance.

The House of Representatives censured Tlaib in November 2023 for using the phrase “from the river to the sea,” which has connotations of wiping out Israel. Raskin claimed he was defending “freedom of speech” by not denouncing Tlaib’s use of the phrase during an interview on “CNN News Central.”

“Well look, we obviously have freedom of speech which is a cherish right under our First Amendment and I think those of 🇺🇸US in public life should pay very close attention to the words we use and what their implications are,” Raskin told “CNN News Central” co-host Boris Sanchez. “I think that a lot of the rhetoric that’s been used during these days has led to a very tense political environment where there’s been violence. Most recently we’ve seen it in Minnesota with these political assassinations and the political hit list drawn up for Democratic elected officials.”

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“But the question of Rashida Tlaib’s speech of course came up in the context of an effort to censure her and the House of Representatives censures people for things like taking bribes, income tax evasion, going over the Senate and beating up a U.S. Senator as Preston Brooks did with Charles Sumner before the Civil War,” Raskin continued. “We’ve never censured someone for their political expression much less the political expression that they had as she did in a video I think that she played off campus.”