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Anti-Defamation League CEO Jonathan Greenblatt condemned Rep. Steve King (R-Iowa), Paul Ryan to take a punitive action against the congressman.
In a letter sent Wednesday to Ryan, Greenblatt called the House leader to formally censor and condemn King's rhetoric and strip of a House subcommittee chairmanship.
"By doing so, you will make clear that his actions were deeply offensive, wrong, and that the U.S. House of Representatives would not tolerate anti-semitism or bigotry in any form," he wrote.
The unusual message was delivered to a gunman opened at the Tree of Life synagogue in a predominantly Jewish neighborhood of Pittsburgh, killing 11 people and injuring six others. The ADL has logged an uptick in anti-Semitic incidents across the U.S in 2017.
Greenblatt told Ryan that he drafted the letter last week but, "After the events of this weekend, I knew that ADL could be silent no more."
The group typically does not endorse or oppose individual political candidates, choosing to condemn it only after it became clear that the Pennsylvania attack stemmed from the same type of hateful sentiment. The mass shooting "reminded us that silence in the face of anti-Semitism and hate is acquiescence," Greenblatt said.
The ADL's letter also comes one day after Rep. Steve Stivers (R-Ohio) condemned King's behavior in a tweet stating that "we must stand up to white supremacy and hate in all forms." He said King's "recent comments, actions, and retweets" were "completely inappropriate."
Stivers, who serves as chairman of the National Republican Congressional Committee, is currently the highest-ranking member of the party against King.
King, an eight-term congressman, has recently used his social media platform to promote statements from white nationalists. In mid-October, he endorsed a white supremacist political running for office candidate in Canada.
In August he visited Austria, where he met with members of the far-right Freedom Party, which was founded by a Nazi SS officer, and gave an interview to Unzensuriert, an outlet aligned with the party. King told the far-right website he believed white Europeans and Americans were being threatened by the West and the West.
By doing so, Greenblatt wrote, "It has been given to anti-Semitic organizations and individuals" the imprimatur of legitimacy that comes with meeting a Member of Congress. "
It was "particularly outrageous," he added, considering that the trip was funded by From the Depths, a nonprofit group dedicated to Holocaust education.
In the final days before midterm elections, the sitting congressman has lost support of corporate sponsors including Intel, Land O'Lakes and Purina, which all issued statements declaring King to be out of line with their values. King now faces a heated battle for re-election against Democratic challenger JD Scholten.
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