JNS
A statement from House GOP leadership called the terrorist leader “a coward who hid behind women and children to carry out his attacks.”
Israel’s successful operation assassinating Hezbollah’s leader Hassan Nasrallah inspired waves of praise from both Democrats and Republicans in the Senate and U.S. House of Representatives.
Senate Majority Speaker Sen. Chuck Schumer (D-N.Y.) said on Sept. 28 that “Hezbollah has the blood of hundreds of Americans on its hands. The world is safer and better off without Nasrallah’s terrorism and oppression, and I will continue to support Israel’s right to defend itself against terrorism.”
Sen. Ted Cruz (R-Texas) said that “Israel’s successes in countering Hezbollah, including and especially the liquidation of Nasrallah, underscore in dramatic fashion that Israel and America share the same enemies. When our Israel allies move to advance their interests, they directly enhance the national security of Americans.”
Sen. Katie Britt (R-Ala.) called Nasrallah an enemy of America, Israel and humanity. “The world is safer with him gone,” she wrote on X.
In an interview with CBS’s “Face the Nation,” Sen. Tom Cotton (R-Ark.) said: “Now that Israel has absolutely devastated the entire leadership structure of Hezbollah, whether it’s at the attacks that came just late last week, killing not only Hassan Nasrallah and all the other leaders, or some of their other actions, or hitting their weapons depots and manufacturing sites in Syria, now is not the time for a ceasefire or to de-escalate, as Joe Biden and Kamala Harris want.”
Sen. Bob Casey (D-Pa.) called Nasrallah’s demise “a measure of justice for the terror he has reigned. The U.S. continues to stand with Israel.”
Writing that Hezbollah had “contributed to the turmoil and tragedy in the Middle East for decades,” Sen. James Lankford (R-Okla.) noted that on Sept. 27, before the assassination was confirmed, “there were videos of people dancing in the streets at the possibility of Nasrallah’s death, which speaks to the grip Hezbollah has had on the region under his terrorist leadership.”
‘His victims spanned the globe’
The House GOP Leadership released a statement on Saturday from Reps. Tom Emmer (R-Minn.), Mike Johnson (R-La.), Steve Scalise (R-La.) and Elise Stefanik (R-N.Y.), who called Nasrallah “a puppet of the Iranian regime” and “a coward who hid behind women and children to carry out his attacks.”
Rep. Brian Mast (R-Fla.) wrote that Nasrallah and the other Hezbollah terrorists killed in the last week by Israel “would still be alive and killing civilians if [Rep.] Nancy Pelosi [D-Calif.], AOC [Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, D-N.Y.] and dozens of other Democrats had their way and cut off U.S. weapons to Israel. Instead, Nasrallah is dead and the world is safer.”
Rep. Mike Turner (R-Ohio) hoped that Nasrallah’s end would “weaken the forces that prevent peace in the Middle East.”
On the other side of the aisle, Rep. Debbie Wasserman Schultz (D-Fla.) wrote online that Nasrallah “died a coward and a war criminal, hiding among civilians. Israel has successfully defended its people and rid the world of this murderer.”
Rep. Hakeem Jeffries (D-N.Y.) said that “our commitment to the safety and security of the Israeli people is ironclad. Israel has a right to defend itself against the terror unleashed on its citizens by Hezbollah, Hamas, Iran and its proxies.”
He added that “at the same time, I continue to support the efforts of President [Joe] Biden and his administration to de-escalate the ongoing conflict in the Middle East through a diplomatic solution that secures the release of Israeli hostages, protects Palestinian civilians from the horrors of war and allows displaced Israeli citizens to return to their homes.”
Calling Hezbollah “a brutal, Iranian-backed terrorist group that has sought the destruction of Israel and America,” Rep. Dan Goldman (D-N.Y.) wrote that “Israel’s precision attacks, including Hassan Nasrallah’s death, are a signal to the world that terrorism has no safe haven.”
Rep. Lois Frankel (D-Fla.) wrote that “Hassan Nasrallah had the blood of innocent Syrians, Lebanese, Israelis and Americans on his hands. The U.S., Israel, and the world are safer without him.”
On Friday, before confirmation of Nasrallah’s death, Rep. Ritchie Torres (D-N.Y.) posted on X: “May he burn in hell where he belongs.”
At press time, eight members of the progressive “Squad” in Congress—Reps. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (D-N.Y.), Ilhan Omar (D-Minn.), Rashida Tlaib (D-Mich.), Ayanna Pressley (D-Mass.), Cori Bush (D-Mo.), Jamaal Bowman (D-N.Y.), Summer Lee (D-Pa.) and Greg Casar (D-Texas)—had not yet commented on Nasrallah’s death.
Reacting to a Friday video of light brown smoke rising after the strike against Nasrallah, Tlaib wrote on X that “our country is funding this bloodbath. Sending more of our troops and bombs to the region is not advancing peace. The U.S. government are conspirators to the war criminal Netanyahu’s genocidal plan.” She was referring to Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu.
Toby Dershowitz, managing director at FDD Action, described to JNS how the words of legislators differed from characterizations of Nasrallah promoted in prominent media narratives.
“Members of Congress across the political aisle did not mince words about the murderer that Nasrallah was,” Dershowitz told JNS. “This contrasts with the odd portrayal of him in media accounts as a ‘good speaker,’ a ‘pragmatist’ and ‘charismatic’—words which sweep under the carpet his blood-stained record of carrying out terrorist attacks on nearly every continent.”
She said that “for many elected officials, Nasrallah’s terrorism hit close to home since his victims included Marines, diplomats and refugees who fled countries on which Nasrallah helped to bring devastation. Members are mindful that his victims spanned the globe.”
