‘Inexcusable!’ ADL’s Greenblatt Slams Democrat For ‘Threatening a Jewish Member’ of Congress

CEO and National Director of the Anti-Defamation League Jonathan Greenblatt blasted Indiana Democrat Rep. Andre Carson Sunday for “threatening a Jewish member for speaking out,” after Carson attacked fellow Democrat Rep. Josh Gottheimer of New Jersey over support for Israel.

CNN’s Manu Raju aired the clip Sunday showing Carson tearing into Gottheimer as “a coward and a punk” and warned that if the Jewish congressman “wants to play some kind of tough guy or gangster, we can handle it like gentlemen, or we can get into something else.”

Those inflammatory comments were in response to a tweet sent by Gottheimer slamming the 15 Democrats who did not vote in favor of the bipartisan resolution in support of Israel and condemning the terrorist attack by Hamas.

“Squad” members Reps. Ilhan Omar, Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, Rashida Tlaib, and Cori Bush, were joined by Carson and other far-left members in voting against the measure, while others such as Reps. Pramila Jayapal, Joaquin Castro, and Ayanna Pressley voted “present.”

In a post on X (formerly Twitter), Gottheimer trashed the 15 Democrats as “despicable” for refusing to condemn the “Hamas terrorists who brutally murdered, raped, and kidnapped babies, children, men, women, and elderly, including Americans.”

Carson’s response to that on CNN was a major escalation.

“Like most cowardly people, when you confront them, they’re afraid. I’m unafraid of the guy,” said Carson. ” And if he wants to call us despicable, I’m saying he’s a coward and he’s a punk.”

“If he wants to play some kind of tough guy or gangster, we can handle it like gentlemen, or we can get into something else,” Carson threatened.

On Sunday evening, ADL’s Greenblatt condemned those comments as “especially egregious,” and put them in the context of a time “when we’re seeing a massive spike in antisemitism.”

“What’s the point?” Greenblatt wrote, asking whether Carson thinks it is “productive” to try to “intimidate” Gottheimer.

Neither House Democrat had responded to Greenblatt’s remark at the time this article was posted, but GOttheimer did have more to say on the subject of excusing or failing to condemn Hamas’s actions.