In this era in which civil discourse is often more theory than practice, arguments between members of Congress over the war between Israel and Hamas have become quite incendiary. Case in point: A recent exchange of words between two Democratic lawmakers clashing over a resolution supporting Israel in its efforts to eradicate the terrorist organization.
It started when Rep. Josh Gottheimer (D-NJ) took to X, the social media platform formerly known as Twitter, to lash out at fellow Democrats who voted against the resolution, which also condemned Hamas. “They are despicable and do not speak for our party,” he wrote.
In response, Rep. Andre Carson (D-IN) threw out some harsh words of his own during an appearance on CNN. He called Gottheimer a “coward” and a “punk,” adding, “if he wants to play some kind of tough guy or gangster, we can handle it like gentlemen, or we can get into something else.”
For those who might be unfamiliar with the reference, Carson’s rejoinder echoes lyrics from Snoop Dogg’s “U Betta Recognize,” in which he raps the following line:
You know the name of the game, your b*tch chose me. N*gga we can handle this like some gentlemen or we can get into some gangsta sh*t.
In a statement to CNN, Gottheimer, who has probably never listened to Snoop Dogg and seemed not to get the underlying message, responded:
I’ll sit down with Mr. Carson anytime to talk about how we can bring the hostages home, including all Americans, provide immediate humanitarian aid to Palestinian civilians being used as human shields, and crush Hamas and all terrorists seeking to do us harm.
Naturally, Carson’s clapback met with criticism, especially from Jonathan Greenblatt, president of the Anti-Defamation League (ADL). In a post on X, he wrote:
It's inexcusable for any member of Congress to threaten a colleague, & especially egregious that @RepAndreCarson is threatening a Jewish member for speaking out at a moment when we're seeing a massive spike in antisemitism. What's the point? Does he think it’s productive to intimidate @RepJoshG?
At the heart of this bout of congressional trash talking is the deepening fissure in the Democratic Party when it comes to handling relations with Israel against the backdrop of the intensifying war in the Middle East. Along with Carson, members of the far-leftist “Squad,” including Reps. Ilhan Omar (D-MN), Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (D-NY), Rashida Tlaib (D-MI), and Cori Bush (D-MO), have been longstanding critics of Israel and voted against the measure.
Gottheimer’s criticism echoes that of many of his Democratic colleagues, many of whom have expressed fervent support for Israel. However, on the other side of the issue, there are Democrats who purport to advocate for the Palestinians and have gone rather soft on Hamas, who started the war after launching a surprise attack against Israel on October 7, killing over 1,400 Israeli soldiers and civilians.
On a macro level, this story highlights the overall polarization in American politics over Israel and several other issues. While it does not seem likely that the nation will see Carson and Gottheimer resort to fisticuffs, the fact that the former even used this type of language shows just how tense this debate has become.