Dem Rep. Torres says he voted against antisemitism resolution by accident

Democratic New York Rep. Ritchie Torres claimed this week that his mistakenly voted against a House resolution condemning antisemitism and its rise on college campuses in the United States.

The chamber overwhelmingly approved the resolution on Thursday, with Rep. Thomas Massie, R-Ky., joining 22 House Democrats in opposing it. Torres ranked among those 22. According to him, however, he meant to support the resolution.

"On the House floor, I mistakenly voted against a resolution condemning campus antisemitism. As a visible and vocal advocate against antisemitism on college campuses, especially in the wake of October 7th, I have submitted a correction for the record," he posted on X. "I have no use for pro-Hamas protestors, and I despise them with every fiber of my being."

The resolution came in the wake of an Oct. 7 Hamas terrorist attack on Israel that saw its forces take about 200 hostages and kill more than 1,000 civilians. The attack prompted ongoing hostilities between Israel and Gaza and led to a litany of antisemitic threats and anti-Israel demonstrations or statements across the nation's leading academic institutions, including Harvard and Cornell.

"This morally sickening support of Hamas terrorists by student organizations and lack of response by campus leadership exposes the proliferation of open antisemitism," New York Republican Rep. Elise Stefanik said after the resolution passed. "It is disgusting that since the Hamas terrorist attacks against Israel, there has been a 388% spike in antisemitic attacks across America."

Massie, for his part, objected to the resolution on First Amendment grounds, saying "Free speech means protecting speech you don’t like, not just speech you do like."

Ben Whedon is an editor and reporter for Just the News. Follow him on X, formerly Twitter.