Rep. Steve Israel (D-NY) on Sunday slammed Rep. Steve King’s (R-IA) comments questioning “how Jews in America can be Democrats.”
“I really do not need lessons from people like Steve King on what is to be Jewish or a Democrat,” Israel said on CNN’s “State of the Union.” “Steve King, who said that America is a Christian nation, should not be lecturing Jews about how we should be Jewish. You know, Steve King doesn’t know what chutzpah is, but Steve King defining Jews and talking about how we can’t be Democrats and Jews at the same time? That’s chutzpah.”
During a radio interview on Friday, King criticized Democrats who skipped Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s speech to Congress.
“Here’s what I don’t understand, I don’t understand how Jews in America can be Democrats first and Jewish second and support Israel along the line of just following their President,” King said.
On Sunday, Israel noted that he escorted Netanyahu into his speech before Congress.
When asked if supporting President Obama over Netanyahu makes one less supportive of Israel, the congressman said, “That great Talmudic scholar Steve King is going into areas he knows nothing about. The fact of the matter is that I choose to support Israel because it is good for the United States.”
Israel first criticized King in a Friday tweet, which elicited a response from King.
@RepSteveIsrael: Real men make such requests face 2 face & man 2 man. I defend Israelis from Leftists & misogynists. pic.twitter.com/GvX5XDftHx
— Steve King (@SteveKingIA) March 21, 2015
Watch the “State of the Union” clip:
