Dem rep ditches Progressive Caucus over antisemitism after Hamas' Oct. 7 massacre

Congressman Ritchie Torres (D-NY) is now the second Democrat to quit the Congressional Progressive Caucus in the wake of Hamas’ Oct. 7 massacre of 1,200 Israelis and the kidnapping of 250 more.

A House Democrat told Axios, “I think he’s … had it with [the] Squad.”

The group of radical progressives attacked Israel following the Hamas atrocities while Torres has remained a fierce defender of the Jewish state.

Congresswoman Lois Frankel (D-FL) left the caucus in November.

According to the outlet, Torres was removed from the caucus website sometime between December and January.

Torres previously told The Gothamist, “I’m not anti-squad, I’m not pro-squad, I refuse to be defined in relation to someone else. I prefer to be defined on my own terms, based on my own story and my own record.”

In December, Torres slammed antisemitic Rep. Ilhan Omar (D-MN) after she accused him of being comfortable with Palestinian casualties following Israel's response to the terrorist attacks. 

Torres was also one of 22 Democrats to vote to censure Rep. Rashida Tlaib, (D-MI) for her antisemitic comments.

He told CNN host Dana Bash, "Every casualty is a tragedy, every war is a humanitarian crisis, but we have to keep in mind the causes of the war. Israel did not start the war, the war was imposed upon Israel by the barbaric terrorism of Hamas, which butchered 1,400 Israelis, including babies," he said, referring to the terrorist attack on Oct. 7 in southern Israel.

"You know, my colleague, Rep. Omar, has voted against Iron Dome, which is a missile defense system that protects Israeli civilians from relentless rocket fire. Were it not for Iron Dome interceptions, there would be far more dead Israelis – far more, by orders of magnitude. So the policy position that she has taken would have led to more dead Israelis and more dead Palestinians."

In January, Torres said, “I was profoundly shaken, not only by October 7, but by its aftermath. I found it utterly horrifying to see fellow Americans openly cheering and celebrating the deadliest massacre of Jews since the Holocaust.”

“And for me, the aftermath of October 7 revealed the barbarity of the American heart that reminded me of an earlier and darker time in our nation’s history; a time when the public mobs of Jim Crow would openly celebrate the lynching of African-Americans or the lynching of a Jewish-American like Leo Frank.”

“And so words cannot express the overwhelming outrage that I felt at the barbaric reaction to the barbarism of October 7. You know, people often ask me, ‘Why do you care so deeply? Why do you speak out so frequently and forcefully against anti-Semitism?’ And I simply reply, ‘You are asking the wrong question. The question is not why have I chosen to be outspoken; the question is why have others chosen to be silent amid the deadliest day for the Jews since the Holocaust.’”