Rep. Massie Fires Back at Nikki Haley: She’s Never Seen a War She Didn’t Like and She Is Against Free Speech

BOLDUAN: “On the debate stage on Wednesday, Nikki Haley criticized DeSantis for having you as a surrogate. I want to play this moment for everyone.”

[Clip starts]
Haley: “It’s really rich that Ron is going to act like he suddenly cares for Israel when he brought the person to Iowa that’s the most anti-Israel Republican in the state; the person that went and voted against Israel’s right to exist in Congress; the person that voted with The Squad against anti-Semitism on college campuses.”
TAPPER: “Thank you, governor.”
Haley: “And you brought that person to Iowa to go and campaign with you.”
[Clip ends]

BOLDUAN: “You responded on Twitter saying, ‘I’m living in Nikki Haley’s head rent-free... and trust me, there’s plenty of empty space in there.’ What are you saying there, congressman?”
MASSIE: “Well, look, she hasn’t read the bills that I voted against. A lot of Democrats voted with me on that bill because we believe in freedom of speech, and we don’t think that the federal — “
BOLDUAN: “On one of them. On one of them. She listed out a couple and I promise you I have read all of them. The resolutions are actually really not that long.”
MASSIE: “There are 19 resolutions. The first resolutions is like six pages long and it tries to expand the conflict to Iran. You know, she’s never seen a war she didn’t like and she is against free speech so, you know, if she wants to hit me on that, she should talk about the facts instead of trying to characterize me as anti-Semitic. As Ron DeSantis said in the debate, that was cheap garbage.”
BOLDUAN: “On one of the issues she’s raising — as you noted, there are multiple resolutions — on one of the resolutions, you were the only person to vote against the statement made by the House in November that reaffirmed the right of Israel to exist. How is that not anti-Israel?”
MASSIE: “Because inside of that resolution, they equate anti-Zionism with anti-Semitism.”
BOLDUAN: “They do not.”
MASSIE: “There are millions of Jews that agree with me on that. In fact — “
BOLDUAN: “That resolution in November, and we can go through them — “
MASSIE: “Yeah, go through them.”
BOLDUAN: “That resolution in November was straightforward, reaffirms the state of Israel’s right to exist, recognizes that denying Israel’s right to exist is a form of anti-Semitism. It does not note — it does not — “
MASSIE: “There you go. That is it.”
BOLDUAN: “It does not say anti-Zionism. And it also notably — “
MASSIE: “Let me speak.”
BOLDUAN: “Congressman, one second. I absolutely will. I was going to get to it.”
MASSIE: “They clarified, in the subsequent resolution, to say anti-Zionism is anti-Semitism.”
BOLDUAN: “And by ‘they,’ it was actually a different group who did.”
MASSIE: “No, Congress. It’s the same Congress that passed that resolution.”
BOLDUAN: “I understand. But what I’m getting at, let’s go step by step then. On the first resolution in November, nowhere in there does it say that anti-Zionism — “
MASSIE: “Okay, take anti-zionism off the table, okay.”
BOLDUAN: “Give me one second.”
MASSIE: “If you question Israel, if you have harsh criticism for Israel — “
BOLDUAN: “Let’s talk about this. Let’s talk about this.
MASSIE: “ — doesn’t mean you’re an anti-Semite. At least half your viewers agree with me on this.”
BOLDUAN: “I understand that you’re passionate about what you want to say. Let me ask the question and then you can respond. Nowhere in that resolution, where you were the only member to vote against, one other member voted — Rashida Tlaib voted present, nowhere in there does it say that criticism of Israeli policy is anti-Semitic. Do you think — do you think Israel has a right to exist?”
MASSIE: “Oh, absolutely they have a right to exist. Look at my social media posts. I started out explaining that vote by saying Israel has a right to exist. Because I don’t vote on the names of resolutions, Kate.”
BOLDUAN: “It’s not the names of the resolution. Congressman, this is not a gotcha in any way, shape or form. I know you can respect how serious I am about the research I do on these things. A week later there was a resolution that did equate anti-Zionism to being anti-Semitic. And in that, 92 Democrats voted present in protest, 13 Democrats voted against it. Jerry Nadler, Daniel Goldman, Jamie Raskin, they spoke out against it. The Jewish members did speak out against that.”
MASSIE: “Correct. And they — “
BOLDUAN: “A week before, you were the only one to vote against. Did you not read it?”
MASSIE: “I read it. They came to me and said, ‘Gee, you’re brave. We’d like to vote the way you’re voting, but this is a political gotcha.’ And so then a week later, a lot of them didn’t have the courage to vote no. As you pointed out, they voted present. That’s the difference between me and these other folks up here. I have the courage. I’ll come on your show and take the heat, but I’ll also talk about what’s in that resolution.”
BOLDUAN: “Recognizes that denying Israel’s right to exist is a form of anti-Semitism. You do not support — “
MASSIE: “That’s the name of the resolution. Congratulations.”
BOLDUAN: “I’m not reading the name of the resolution.
MASSIE: “Congratulations, you’re able to read the name of the resolution. I don’t vote on the names.”
BOLDUAN: “Ooh. Ooh, congressman, I don’t think you want — I don’t think you want — I don’t think you’re trying to question my intelligence now, are you?”
MASSIE: “No, I’m just saying you don’t have time to prepare for this like I did.”
BOLDUAN: “You mean the two pages that I read in two minutes this morning and highlighted the resolve that the House of Representatives — “
MASSIE: “Two minutes. Good for you. You took two minutes. There have been 19 resolutions, I know what’s in all of them. I studied them. And I say right on social media — if you had done a little more research, you wouldn’t have to ask me if I acknowledged Israel’s right to exist. It’s right there on my social media.”
BOLDUAN: “I’ve read your social media. I also think, given what is stated in this resolution, it is worthy of re-asking.”
MASSIE: “I enjoy this dialogue. I hope I get to come back on and talk about what’s in these bills again.”
BOLDUAN: “In these resolutions and in these statements made by Congress is and in this resolution, where everyone but you voted against — voted in support of? I’m happy to have you on to discuss and will continue to do my research. And do not appreciate when someone even suggests or insinuates that I’m not prepared.”
MASSIE: “I merely suggested you didn’t have time to do the research that I’ve done. You did some research.”
BOLDUAN: “Congressman Massie, thank you for coming.”
MASSIE: “Thank you, Kate.”
SIDNER: “That was enlightening. Thank you, Kate.”