A key congressional Democrat on foreign policy came out swinging at the White House this week over comments that President Barack Obama made in regard to a terrorist attack at a Kosher deli in Paris last month.
In an interview with Vox released on Monday, Obama said it was "entirely legitimate for the American people to be deeply concerned when you've got a bunch of violent, vicious zealots who behead people or randomly shoot a bunch of folks in a deli in Paris."
But critics insist the attack was far from random, as a man who said he was a member of the Islamic State (IS) killed four Jews and took more than 10 hostages. Responding to these critics, speaking to the press on Tuesday, Josh Earnest, the White House press secretary, refused to say the terrorist specifically targeted Jews despite media reports that the terrorist said his actions were motivated by a desire to protect Palestinian and attack Jews.
"It is clear from the terrorists and the writings that they put out afterward what their motivation was," Earnest told the media on Tuesday. "The adverb that the president chose was used to indicate that the individuals who were killed in that terrible, tragic incident were killed not because of who they were but because of where they randomly happened to be."
Earnests comments did not sit well with U.S. Rep. Ted Deutch, D-Fla., the ranking Democrat on the U.S. House Middle East and North Africa Subcommittee.
Speaking of the victims of the attack on the Kosher supermarket in Paris, the White House press secretary said today, These individuals were not targeted by name. This is the point, Deutch fired back on Tuesday. No, the point is they were targeted because they were Jews. To fight anti-Semitism, we must be clear that it exists and it cannot be tolerated. That is the message the White House should deliver.
Earnest backtracked on Twitter on Tuesday.
Our view has not changed, Earnest insisted. Terror attack at Paris Kosher market was motivated by anti-Semitism. POTUS didn't intend to suggest otherwise.
Reach Kevin Derby at kderby@sunshinestatenews.com or follow him on Twitter: @KevinDerbySSN
