White House press secretary Karine Jean-Pierre refused to condemn Rep. Pramila Jayapal‘s comments on the need for “balance” when discussing Hamas’ use of sexual violence such as rape, against Israeli women.
Jayapal, who chairs the Congressional Progressive Caucus, faced criticism from all sides for not unequivocally condemning mass rape committed by Palestinian militants. Jean-Pierre, speaking for President Biden, reiterated that using rape as a weapon of war is “reprehensible” but stopped short of condemning Jayapal directly.
Karine Jean-Pierre refuses to condemn Democrat Rep. Pramila Jayapal for calling "to be balanced" in criticism of Hamas using rape as a weapon of war against innocent civilians pic.twitter.com/3Do0kYEN2Q
— RNC Research (@RNCResearch) December 4, 2023
“I can only speak for the president — that’s who I can speak for,” Jean-Pierre told Fox News correspondent Jacqui Heinrich.
“We’ve been clear that what Hamas did is absolutely reprehensible, full stop. We’re going to continue to be clear about that.”
“We think rape and the use of rape — being used as a weapon — that is also reprehensible and that’s full stop and I’ll just leave it there,” she continued. “That’s speaking for the president of the United States and I think I’ve been very clear on that.”
News: The White House declines to denounce the progressive lawmaker for her remarks on Hamas' involvement with sexual assault.
White House press secretary Karine Jean-Pierre declined to condemn Rep. Pramila Jayapal's call for "balance" regarding Hamas' use of sexual violence… pic.twitter.com/LKjdAbZn12
— The State of Politics (@TSOPPC) December 4, 2023
Jean-Pierre refused to address the congresswoman’s remarks directly. “I just commented on it. I just laid out what we believe is unacceptable,” she said.
Despite being pressed, Jean-Pierre declined to address Jayapal’s remarks directly. While the White House did not condemn Jayapal, some Democrats, including Rep. Debbie Wasserman Schultz, criticized her for attempting to “both sides” sexual violence, and Rep. Ritchie Torres called it “indecent” to downplay rape against Israeli women.
Wasserman Schultz, called it “outrageous” for anyone to “both sides” the violence. Ritchie Torres, said that it was “indecent” to downplay the rape by Hamas.
“Hamas terrorists raped Israeli women and girls. The only ‘balanced’ approach is to condemn sexual violence loudly, forcefully and without exceptions. Outrageous for anyone to ‘both sides’ sexual violence,” said Wasserman Schultz.
