Committee chair backs antisemitism envoy nominee after senator cries foul

Before adjourning the Senate confirmation hearing, Senate Foreign Relations Committee chairman Bob Menendez defends Biden’s nominee for antisemitism envoy Deborah Lipstadt after Republican Ron Johnson said her public attacks against him disqualified her from the post.

“If we cannot call out comments for what they are, if we don’t understand that words have power to them — sometimes very negative, powerful consequences — then we can never challenge whether it be antisemitism or racism or other elements,” Menendez says.

In March, Lipstadt tweeted an article about a statement Johnson made in which he said he would have been more concerned by the January 6 insurrection had the rioters been “Black Lives Matter and Antifa protesters” as opposed to Trump supporters. Lipstadt wrote, “This is white supremacy/nationalism. Pure and simple.”

Lipstadt has apologized, but Johnson said Lipstadt shouldn’t have criticized him without getting to know him and about his partnership with a Black pastor in Wisconsin.

Menendez asks Lipstadt whether if confirmed she’ll continue calling out antisemitism regardless of where it sprouts, she responds in the affirmative, adding that “after I’ve stopped this position, I still have to live with myself.”