🎙️ Voice is AI-generated. Inconsistencies may occur.
A Florida state representative, identified online as Republican Michelle Salzman, has gone viral on social media for shouting "all of them" after being asked how many dead Palestinians will be enough during a Florida Senate session.
The politician was responding to a speech calling for a ceasefire from the Democrat Rep. Angie Nixon. Newsweek has reached out to Salzman for comment by email.
A number of Democratic legislatures have broken from President Joe Biden and called for a ceasefire in the Israel-Hamas war, which began on October 7 with a surprise Hamas attack on southern Israel that left over 1,400 dead and 242 kidnapped, according to Israeli authorities. The Israeli military has since struck back via airstrikes and a ground incursion into Gaza, with the Hamas-run Gaza Health Ministry saying over 10,300 have been killed. When asked "what are the chances of a Gaza ceasefire" by a reporter on Thursday, Biden replied: "None. No possibility."
Speaking in the Florida Senate a visibly emotional Nixon asked: "We are at 10,000 dead Palestinians, how many will be enough?"
A heckler then shouts "all of them," causing Nixon to reply: "One of my colleagues just said all of them. Wow. One of my colleagues said all of them.
"One of my colleagues also stated that this is gonna dry up their fundraising if we vote on this resolution. Like that's what we've become in this state. That's what we've become in this state where we don't care about innocent babies that don't even get the opportunity to blow out their first birthday candle?"
The resolution introduced by Nixon was later defeated by 104 votes against two.
Speaking to The Messenger Nixon called for the Florida House Speaker to "publicly chastise" Salzman for what she called a "disgusting display of power and contempt and hate" using "the same type of hateful rhetoric that has been allowed in the Florida legislature under Ron DeSantis and under Republican leadership."
She added: "Previously it was simply just anti-Black rhetoric, anti-LGBTQ rhetoric, anti-women's right to reproductive health. But now it's shifted based on what's happening in the Middle East and now it's become Islamophobia."
On Wednesday the House of Representatives voted to censure Rashida Tlaib by 234 votes against 188, accusing the Michigan Democrat of "promoting false narratives" about the ongoing war.
On November 3 Tlaib shared a video on X, formerly Twitter, which stated: "Joe Biden supported the genocide of the Palestinian people. The American people won't forget. Biden support a ceasefire now or don't count on us in 2024."
U.S. National Security Council spokesperson John Kirby told reporters on Friday that Israel had agreed to begin four-hour humanitarian pauses each day in the northern Gaza Strip, which he described as "a significant step forward in the right direction, including for the protection of civilians."
About the writer
James Bickerton is a Newsweek U.S. News reporter based in London, U.K. His focus is on covering news and politics ... Read more