House Democrats are pushing for a legislative measure condemning white supremacist terrorism and anti-immigrant rhetoric, a veiled criticism of President Trump and his response to last month’s New Zealand mosque attacks.
About 80 members of the Democratic caucus have co-sponsored a nonbinding resolution, introduced on Tuesday by New Jersey freshman Rep. Tom Malinowski, without any support from House Republicans. The measure, which borrows heavily from Ronald Reagan’s final speech as president, denounces political leaders who stoke fear of “an immigrant invasion,” implores federal, state, and local law enforcement to invest resources in mitigating domestic terror and extremist ideological threats, and urges social media companies to strip their platforms of incendiary content encouraging hate crimes.
Malinowski told reporters on Capitol Hill Tuesday that he was moved to draft the resolution after the shooter who in March killed 49 people at two mosques in Christchurch, New Zealand, wrote in his manifesto that “we are experiencing an invasion on a level never seen before in history,” referring to the “millions of people pouring across our borders.” Trump reiterated the sentiment in the hours following the incident, saying that “people hate the word ‘invasion,’ but that’s what it is.” The gunman who last year shot 11 worshippers at the Tree of Life synagogue in Pittsburgh, Pa., made similar remarks.
The resolution, however, does not directly name-check Trump.
“I mean, he’s not the only person. I think it’s pretty clear … who we were thinking about, but I don’t want this to be about condemning one person, it’s about condemning any leader in any country who echoes this kind of language,” Malinowski said.
The measure comes as Rep. Ilhan Omar, D-Minn., drew scrutiny late Monday for calling White House senior policy adviser Stephen Miller a white nationalist for his role in shaping the Trump administration’s hard-line immigration policies.
“I’m not particularly interested in presidential staff, I was one myself once. I am interested in what the president of the United States says,” Malinowski said in response to the backlash Omar has received over her comments. Malinowski previously served as Assistant Secretary of State for Democracy, Human Rights, and Labor from 2014 to 2017 as part of the Obama administration before running for elected office.
“The reason why we’re focused here on the violence and the national security aspect of this is that we have to elevate this debate above the daily partisan combat that goes on around here,” he added.
Malinowski hopes the House Judiciary Committee will consider the resolution, given that Chairman Jerry Nadler is an original sponsor. However, a specific timeline is yet to be laid out.
