The Washington Post suggests a full one-sixth of the House Democrats will be absent from Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s Tuesday speech before a joint session of Congress.
With the exception of NY State, the boycotting districts are 10 percentage points more black than the average of all Democratic districts, and 14 points more black than the national average of all House districts. They are also 1.1 percentage points less Jewish.
Will you offer us a hand? Every gift, regardless of size, fuels our future.
Your critical contribution enables us to maintain our independence from shareholders or wealthy owners, allowing us to keep up reporting without bias. It means we can continue to make Jewish Business News available to everyone.
You can support us for as little as $1 via PayPal at office@jewishbusinessnews.com.
Thank you.
According to Huff Post, Senators Elizabeth Warren (D-Mass.) and Al Franken (D-Minn.) said they would not attend.
Vice President Joe Biden, who is conveniently traveling abroad, is another stinging absence.
That’s a big blow to the Prime Minister, because Biden, Warren and Franken are probably the three most popular Democrats on the Hill, the media love them, and they’re both presidential material. By announcing ahead of time that they’re a no-show, the two leaders signaled the rest of the Democratic delegation that it’s OK to boycott Bibi.
What’s AIPAC going to do, stop giving money to the entire Democratic party?
According to The Hill, at least 55 Democrats — eight senators and 47 House members — are determined to skip the speech.
There are a total of 535 Members of Congress. 100 serve in the U.S. Senate and 435 in the U.S. House of Representatives. That means that roughly 10 percent of the joint session will be absent.
But don’t worry, there will be a full house in attendance. Because, according to the Washington Times, Republicans are pleading with their boycotting Democratic colleagues to share their extra tickets to the speech.
Each member is allotted a ticket to give out for a seat in the viewing galleries, as it’s done at a State of the Union address
“I could scalp that ticket, there are so many people who want it, ” Rep. Tim Walberg, Michigan Republican, told the Wash Times.
Other counts are less pessimistic than The Hill’s. Fox News knows of 6 senators and 29 House members. But it’s possible that Dems would speak more freely to The Hill than they would Fox.
