Rep. Matt Gaetz has slammed the new hate speech bill passed by the House Wednesday, warning that the expanded definition of antisemitism will result in the criminalization of The Holy Bible.
Gaetz raised the alarm of the bill’s working definition of “contemporary examples of antisemitism” that includes “claims of Jews killing Jesus.”
“Antisemitism is wrong, but this legislation is written without regard for the Constitution, common sense, or even the common understanding of the meaning of words,” declared Gaetz on X Wednesday. “The Gospel itself would meet the definition of antisemitism under the terms of this bill!”
“The bill says the definition of antisemitism includes ‘contemporary examples of antisemitism’ identified by the International Holocaust Remembrance Alliance (IHRA). One of those examples includes: ‘…claims of Jews killing Jesus…’”
“The Bible is clear. There is no myth or controversy on this. Therefore, I will not support this bill.”
This evening, I will vote AGAINST the ridiculous hate speech bill called the “Antisemitism Awareness Act.”
— Rep. Matt Gaetz (@RepMattGaetz) May 1, 2024
Antisemitism is wrong, but this legislation is written without regard for the Constitution, common sense, or even the common understanding of the meaning of words. The… pic.twitter.com/HYg2LJDLAI
Infowars.com reports: Gaetz illustrated his contention by highlighting key parts of the legislation alongside excerpts of scripture that would “violate the law.”
Gaetz stressed that he has no view on who killed Jesus and that this is simply a matter of honoring the Constitution.
To be clear – I take no view on who killed Jesus in how I voted on this measure. It was a matter of the Constitution. The Bible is clear in that its words plainly, textually,would violate this law. That is nuts – and in deep conflict with the First Amendment.
— Matt Gaetz (@mattgaetz) May 2, 2024
The bill’s disregard of the First Amendment brings to mind Gaetz’s Wednesday comments on X Spaces where he warned the intelligence community is trying to “Shape the nature of truth itself.”
“I’m startled by what we see but not surprised (Regarding O’Keefe’s exposé on the intelligence community). Because as jarring as it is, it is a constellation of facts that we’ve uncovered in the Judiciary Committee and in the Weaponization Subcommittee that there is an effort underway to try to shape the nature of truth itself by shaping what can be seen and what can be received – particularly by those in power,” said Gaetz on X Spaces. “There’s a cabal in Washington that wants to control the access to information, both upward to decision-makers and downward to the populace.”
“This is not a partisan issue, the way the intelligence community works around here is frightening.”
(Click HERE to hear the conversation and skip to 41:30 to begin where Gaetz joins.)
Gaetz isn’t alone, critics online are also raising alarm on this bill.
GOP went from “lol triggered by free speech libs!” to “maybe the Bible is illegal” in 6 months https://t.co/PGInqtUDOg
— Auron MacIntyre (@AuronMacintyre) May 2, 2024
Yes. The New Testament. https://t.co/h5o2eDaKTN
— Tucker Carlson (@TuckerCarlson) May 2, 2024
The hate speech bill that just passed the House will not protect students or prevent anarchy on college campuses… but if signed into law, it would subordinate the First Amendment to the whims of an international body and succeed where other efforts to criminalize speech under…
— Lafayette Lee (@Partisan_O) May 2, 2024
Did a coup happen overnight? https://t.co/chRZLb5hmN
— Cernovich (@Cernovich) May 2, 2024
Embarrassingly ignorant of simple facts… and with a “Ph.D in New Testament.”
— Martyr Made (@martyrmade) May 2, 2024
The Gospels are crystal clear. The Jewish authorities declared Jesus guilty of blasphemy, a capital crime in their own laws. But they couldn’t get a Roman governor to execute a man over their… https://t.co/oPAv9ZixjM pic.twitter.com/2IAKj1rOWw
The "Anti-Semitism" bill is blatantly anti-Christian and aggressively infringes on the 1st Amendment. This is criminalizing speech in a way never seen before in America. pic.twitter.com/cTVkHX555m
— Owen Shroyer (@OwenShroyer1776) May 1, 2024
Evidently restricting speech is more important than stopping a border invasion for House Republicans.
— Charlie Kirk (@charliekirk11) May 2, 2024