
Katherine Clark, No. 2 House Democrat, says something must be done to stop ‘genocide' in Gaza
By Kelly Garrity
08/15/2025 02:40 PM EDT
Democratic Whip Katherine Clark appeared to refer to Israel's offensive in Gaza as a 'genocide' during a forum Thursday, according to video of the event viewed by POLITICO.
Clark called on those in the audience to 'take action in time to make a difference, … whether that is stopping the starvation and genocide and destruction of Gaza, or whether that means we are working together to stop the redistricting that is going on, taking away the vote from people in order to retain power,' she said at the forum, which was organized by the Friends Committee on National Legislation, a nonpartisan Quaker organization.
Democrats across the ideological spectrum have increasingly been critical of Israel's tactics in recent weeks, amid warnings from international aid groups of famine and reports of a rising death toll in Gaza. In a statement posted on X last month, House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries wrote that the 'humanitarian crisis in Gaza has reached a breaking point' during President Donald Trump's first six months in office.
Hashtags

Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles


Fox News
43 minutes ago
- Fox News
Eric Swalwell rejects Michelle Obama's 'when they go low, we go high' message, vows to 'bury' Republicans
Rep. Eric Swalwell, D-Calif., dismissed former First Lady Michelle Obama's famous "when they go low, we go high" mantra on Saturday, instead threatening to "bury" Republicans "below the Capitol" during a redistricting fight. On "CNN Newsroom," host Omar Jimenez brought up Obama's old mantra after asking the congressman whether there were concerns that "fighting fire with fire" in redrawing congressional maps could backfire on the Democratic Party. "No, when they go low, we're going to bury them below the Capitol," Swalwell said. "That's what we're going to do, because this is about protecting democracy. And right now, as you see, D.C. has been militarized, and we were weak as Democrats." Swalwell called recent efforts by Texas Republicans to redraw the state's congressional districts a "grab for power" by President Donald Trump to make sure Democrats lose in the upcoming midterm elections. He argued that fighting fire with fire was the only way "to protect the most vulnerable" and defend democracy. "We have paid the price for our weakness in the past, and we can't be so weak next time we have power," Swalwell said. "Gavin Newsom is making Donald Trump react to him with the lawsuits with this new map to match what's happening in Texas. And the way I see it is, either we're on our heels, and the most vulnerable are on their heels reacting to Donald Trump, or he's on his heels reacting to us." Newsom has proposed a controversial initiative that would allow for mid-decade redistricting, aiming to eliminate five Republican-held seats in response to GOP-led map changes in Texas. However, such changes are currently prohibited by the California state constitution, which mandates nonpartisan redistricting through an independent commission. Newsom and California Democrats are pushing for a special election later this year to obtain voter approval to bypass the constitution. Swalwell didn't immediately respond to a request for comment. Swalwell is the latest in a long line of Democrats who have appeared to abandon the "when they go low, we go high" mantra in favor of harsher and sometimes violent rhetoric. Michelle Obama also amended the phrase in a 2020 DNC speech. "Let's be clear: going high does not mean putting on a smile and saying nice things when confronted by viciousness and cruelty," Obama said in 2020. "Going high means taking the harder path. It means scraping and clawing our way to that mountain top. Going high means standing fierce against hatred while remembering that we are one nation under God, and if we want to survive, we've got to find a way to live together and work together across our differences."


The Hill
an hour ago
- The Hill
Texas state senators take first step toward redistricting
State senators in Texas launched a public hearing Sunday on a bill to redraw congressional voting districts in the state, a move that could win Republicans five more seats in the House if the GOP plan works perfectly. The public hearing is a required step before a bill can advance for a vote on the state Senate floor, Nexstar's KXAN reported. Democrats fled the state earlier this summer to prevent Texas Gov. Greg Abbott and Republicans from having the legislative quorum necessary to pass legislation. But Democrats are expected to attend the new special session after garnering attention with their walkout, and triggering more redistricting efforts around the country. 'We did exactly what we said we needed to do, and that is bringing a spotlight on this issue,' State Rep. Josey Garcia (D-San Antonio) said in an interview with KXAN one day before Abbott called the second special session. Most notably, California Gov. Gavin Newsom is spearheading an effort to change district lines in his state to make up for any potential losses for Democrats in Texas. Democrats released their proposed map on Friday evening. Newsom (D) is vying to hold a special election this fall on a ballot measure that would suspend the state's independent redistricting commission until the end of the decade in an effort to keep up with Republican gerrymandering. Newsom has stressed that bypassing the commission, which Californians approved back in 2008 and 2010, would be temporary, and that redrawing the lines would only be triggered by redistricting in red states. 'They do five seats, we do five seats,' Newsom has said. KXAN reported that Texas House leaders expect that the House will have enough members present Monday to conduct legislative business. GOP State Sen. Phil King told KXAN that the new mapy would be legal and will perform better for Republicans in the state. 'We heard a lot of testimony that the current map had a number of districts that were not compact, were not close together, were not tight, in in their in their design, and in this map, listening to that testimony, we applied it, and this map also is much more compact than the current congressional redistricting map.' The proposed changes target five districts in areas around Austin, Dallas, Houston, and San Antonio, creating Republican-leaning seats. The Texas push was directed by President Trump, who has also been pushing other states where Republicans are in control of government to look at redistricting to gain Republicans seats. The states considering such options include Missouri and Indiana. Trump was impeached twice in his first term after Democrats regained control of the House. Because the GOP has a very narrow majority in the House and the president's party typically loses seats in the midterm elections, the possibility of Democrats regaining the House majority is a real possibility in 2026.


The Hill
an hour ago
- The Hill
Trump ‘bela' post is new ‘covfefe,' stirs Newsom into action
A key meeting on the Russia-Ukraine war is set for Monday. Erin has been downgraded to a tropical storm but could still cause danger. But some on the internet want to know what Trump was talking about with his 'bela' post. Trump at 8:31 a.m. on Sunday posted the one-word message on his Truth Social media account. The word means beautiful in Italian if spelled with a double L, as 'bella.' Perhaps the president was looking at something, outside or on television, that sparked him to send the message. Whatever it was, it had a number of notables weighing in. Trump and California Gov. Gavin Newsom have been feuding, and the Democrat's press office took the occasion to argue it is winning. 'We broke Donald Trump,' Newsom's press office wrote in response to the 'bela' post. In an earlier post, Newsom's office took more shots at Trump, seemingly inviting the president into an online fight with shots at his 'tiny hands.' The Lincoln Project, the conservative group that opposes Trump and is active on social media, wrote that Trump had dropped the new 'Covfefe.' Trump, during his first term, bewildered much of the country back in 2017 with the original covfefe tweet, which was likely a typo of some sort. Back then, the president's musings on Twitter were watched by much of the country and world – perhap more avidly than now. George Conway, the frequent Trump critic, was also reminded of covfefe, writing that bela was a 'blend' of covfefe. Rep. Jared Moskowitz (D-Fla.), responding to the tweet, wrote 'that's what we call Comer,' apparently a reference to the chairman of the House Oversight panel, Rep. James Comer (R-Ky.). Another account suggested a simple explanation. Trump was writing about Belarus, and got cut off with a typo.