ICYMI: Rosen Calls Out Defense Secretary Hegseth Over Use of Antisemitic Trope

WASHINGTON, DC - Yesterday, during a Senate Armed Services Committee hearing, Senator Rosen called out Secretary of Defense Pete Hegseth over his use of an antisemitic trope against the media and Democrats. Hegseth has repeatedly used the term "Pharisees," a deeply problematic term that has been used historically to depict Jewish communities as hypocritical or morally corrupt.

As co-founder and co-chair of the Senate Bipartisan Task Force for Combating Antisemitism, Senator Rosen has made it her priority to fight antisemitism, wherever and whenever it happens. She successfully pushed the Coast Guard to reverse course on a policy change that would have downgraded the classification of swastikas from hate symbols to "potentially divisive." She also introduced bipartisan legislation to strengthen Holocaust education at public schools and increase awareness of Holocaust educational resources available to local communities. Recently, Senator Rosen demanded that the Senate take swift action on proposals that would help address the rising growth of antisemitism across the U.S.

MS Now: "I found it actually pretty offensive…It goes hand in hand with the oddness of his rhetoric"

Chris Hayes: "The Pharisees thing is very weird. Obviously, it's a biblical reference to a sort of a sectarian division that existed at Jesus's time in the New Testament…but often has been appropriated later by basically Christian antisemites. It has a long history of being deployed in that way. And he was using it also. He was calling like senators, which I found actually pretty offensive. I mean, I'm not Jewish, but so maybe I'm not the one taking the offense. But he called Richard Blumenthal this and then he went back and forth with Senator Jacky Rosen. I want to just play that sound because it is odd. And it 's. It goes hand in hand with the, I think, the oddness of his rhetoric, which would be the most charitable way to describe it. Take a listen"

CNN: Hegseth Defends the use of Pharisees to Attack Media and Democrats

Sen Rosen: "You keep doubling down on this phrase, Mr. Secretary. You compare journalists, you compare us, you compare so many to Pharisees. Pharisees, It's a problematic and historically weaponized term that casts Jewish communities as hypocritical or morally corrupt, you doubled down again and said it. Words matter. Words matter. What you choose to say. How we choose to say it. How do you justify using this language as Secretary of Defense? Words matter if they hurt.

"Historically hurtful term, why do you continue to use it? And what actions are you taking to prevent rhetoric like this from permeating throughout the department that is going to target specific groups or individuals of people based on their religion?"

Hegseth: "Senator, I feel like it's a pretty accurate term for folks who don't see the plank in their own eye and always want to see what's wrong with an operation, as opposed to the historic success of preventing Iran from getting a nuclear weapon. So I stand by it."

Sen Rosen: "You stand by calling people Pharisees? Sir, I cannot, I cannot stand for that. That is wrong. It is not respectful to people, and I expect anyone who is in leadership in our country to be respectful and use respectful terms and not be an anti-semite."

New York Times: Here are the takeaways from Hegseth's Senate testimony on the Iran war

Hegseth was accused of using antisemitic language.

Senator Jacky Rosen, Democrat of Nevada, accused Mr. Hegseth of using antisemitic language when he compared members of Congress and the news media to the Pharisees who criticized Jesus of Nazareth for performing miracles.

"It's a problematic and weaponized term that casts Jewish communities as hypocritical or morally corrupt," Ms. Rosen said of the defense secretary's use of the term Pharisee.

"Words matter - what you say, how we choose to say it," she said. "How do you justify using this language as secretary of defense?"

"I feel like it's a pretty accurate term for folks who don't see the plank in their own eye and always want to see what's wrong with an operation," the defense secretary said. "As opposed to the historic success of preventing Iran from getting a nuclear weapons."

"So I stand by it," he added.

The Independent: Nevada senator accuses Hegseth of being 'antisemite' in Iran-heavy budget hearing - and he doesn't refute it

Nevada Sen. Jacky Rosen labeled the Secretary of Defense, Pete Hegseth, an "antisemite" during a charged hearing on Capitol Hill on Thursday that saw the former Fox News chief spar with senators over allegations of spreading a Christian nationalist agenda and leading America into an unpopular conflict with Iran.

The moment came after Hegseth remarked to another senator that he sometimes referred to members of the press as "Pharisees", a term referring to a sect of Jewish thought active thousands of years ago that has come to be used occasionally by non-Jews as a kind of slur meant to describe someone as hypocritical or litigious. During the 2020 presidential campaign, Pete Buttigieg faced criticism from some Jewish figures for using the term.

Hegseth remarked to a senator during the hearing, "I looked out at our press corps at the Pentagon and called them the Pharisees in the press, because they look for every problem."

New York Times' The Daily: Hegseth in the Hot Seat

Michael Barbaro: "Finally, there's a really important exchange about the very idea of dissent and the growing sense, which, Eric, you had mentioned in the beginning of our conversation when it comes to how Hegseth has treated the media, that this Secretary of Defense is not really open to dissent, not really interested in being challenged, whether that's from the news media or even from Congress."

Eric Schmitt:"You're right. And he is definitely in the camp of either you're with us or you're against us. There's no gray area in the middle here, where it's like, we can agree to disagree on these kind of issues.

Senator Rosen: "You keep doubling down on this phrase…You compare journalists, you compare us, you compare so many to Pharisees."

Eric Schmitt: "Pharisees in the New Testament, who criticized Jesus of Nazareth for performing miracles."

Senator Rosen: "It's problematic and historically weaponized term that casts Jewish communities as hypocritical and morally corrupt. You doubled down again and said it."

Eric Schmitt: "And she's just taken aback by this."

Senator Rosen: "How do you justify using this language as Secretary of Defense? Words matter. It's a historically hurtful term."

Pete Hegseth: "Senator, I feel like it's a pretty accurate term for folks who don't see the plank in their own eye and always want to see what's wrong with an operation, as opposed to the historic success of preventing Iran from getting a nuclear weapon. So I stand by it."

Senator Rosen: "You stand by calling people Pharisees? Sir, I cannot, I cannot stand for that. That is wrong. It is not respectful to people. And I expect anyone who is in leadership in our country to be respectful and use respectful terms and not be an antisemite."

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