The Republican Jewish Coalition has slammed Georgia Democrats Jon Ossoff and Raphael Warnock, saying they “crossed a line” by campaigning with Hank Johnson, a congressman who reportedly compared Jews to “termites.”
Ossoff and Warnock campaigned with Rep. Johnson (D-Georgia) over the weekend, an act the Republican Jewish Coalition (RJC) equated to “a direct endorsement of Johnson’s bigoted statements.”
.@ossoff & @ReverendWarnock in the Senate will fight to protect #healthcare for all American families by safeguarding pre-existing condition protections, no matter how hard some Republicans will work to strip them away. pic.twitter.com/24sLkAv0LN
Johnson reportedly made his controversial comments while speaking to the Campaign to End Israeli Occupation in 2016.
“There has been a steady [stream], almost like termites can get into a residence and eat before you know that you’ve been eaten up and you fall in on yourself,” Johnson said, according to Free Beacon. The lawmaker added that Israel has placed restrictions on Palestinians and restricted their movement.
“We’ve gotten to the point where the thought of a Palestinian homeland gets further and further removed from reality,” he said.
The RJC believes Ossoff and Warnock are completely aware of these statements, which they believe are “dehumanizing and on par with the propaganda that the Nazi regime used to desensitize the German people to the eventual Holocaust.”
“Jon Ossoff certainly knows what Johnson has said about Jews from Israel, and Raphael Warnock either knows, or is being purposefully ignorant,” the coalition stressed in a statement released late on Saturday night.
In a Sunday statement to the Daily Wire, RJC Director Matt Brooks said the Democrats’ association with Johnson “crosses a line” and called for them to “apologize” and “condemn Hank Johnson.”
The Anti-Defamation League previously called Johnson’s comments “offensive and unhelpful.” He later apologized for the “poor choice of words,” but his speaking at the event could look worse in light of the State Department recently announcing that it would recognize anti-Israel BDS (Boycott, Divestment and Sanctions) campaigns as anti-Semitic and work to remove any government funding groups in support of such campaigns receive.
Ossoff was previously on Johnson’s staff for five years, and Johnson also campaigned with both him and Warnock at an October event.
Ossoff and Warnock are facing a critical runoff election set for January 5 which will determine whether Republicans retain control of the Senate, something seen as critical for the party during Joe Biden’s first term. Donald Trump traveled to Georgia on Saturday to campaign for Republican Sens. Kelly Loeffler and David Perdue.
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