Rep. Pramila Jayapal, a Democrat from Washington state, set off a firestorm during her interview with CNN’s Dana Bash Sunday morning. Her answer to whether or not she condemns Hamas for using rape as a weapon of war was unacceptable.

Jayapal tried to talk about finding some kind of balance when people talk about the hideous acts being committed by Hamas against Israeli women. There is no balance. When Bash asked about it, Jayapal launched into a lecture about how many Palestinians have been killed since Israel began to defend itself after October 7. She used numbers coming from Hamas propaganda so take her words with a big grain of salt.

While Jayapal, who is chairwoman of the Congressional Progressive Caucus, condemned the rape of Israeli women by Hamas and called it “horrific” on CNN’s “State of the Union” on Sunday, she pointed out that over 15,000 Palestinians have been killed by Israeli attacks in Gaza since the start of the war and said, “I think we have to be balanced about bringing in the outrages against Palestinians.”

Like I said, there is no balance to be found here. Not only is Jayapal a Democrat in the House, she is also chairwoman of the Congressional Progressive Caucus, and she is also a charter member of The Squad. They are well-known for their antisemitic remarks. Jayapal was answering the questions from Bash as she believed the truth to be.

Women came out of the woodwork to criticize her, as they should. If women are not going to speak up for other women, who will? Rape used as a weapon of war is a war crime. Rape is rape. It is never acceptable. Hamas are barbarians. They didn’t stop with rape, they mutilated Israeli women who were still alive, shoved knives in their vaginas, gang-raped women, and then shot them. These horrors have been documented and presented to the United Nations.

On Tuesday, Jayapal issued a statement that revises her answer in that interview. She repeated that she called the rapes “horrific” but goes on to explain that she wasn’t talking about rape when she spoke about balance. Umm.

In her statement Tuesday, Jayapal said her comment “about balance was not about rape, and not intended to minimize rape and sexual assault in any way.”

“It was about recognizing the tremendous pain and trauma of so many—Israelis, Palestinians, and their diaspora communities—in this terrible war,” Jayapal stated.

The congresswoman continued, “I understand that I have critics who disagree with me on policy, but for them to insinuate that I would think, say or act in any way that equivocates on rape is outrageous and completely inconsistent with my record and life’s work. It also deeply hurts the ability to have meaningful conversations about critical issues.”

She talks about “tremendous pain and trauma” but not the war crime. Progressives are quick to point a finger at Israel and accuse the IDF of war crimes. Not Hamas, though. Many anti-Israel critics label Hamas as freedom fighters. It is eye-opening how much naive and ignorant thinking has been going on since the Israel-Hamas war began.

It took U.N. Women more than 50 days to speak out about rape as a weapon of war used against Israeli women and girls. Many women’s groups still have not said a peep about the atrocities. Why is that? Is it believe all women except Jewish women and girls? That is the impression given by the silence.

Israel Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu spoke about the deafening silence from women’s groups and human rights organizations. He asked a good question – where the hell are you?

I say to the women's rights organizations, to the human rights organizations: You've heard of the rape of Israeli women, horrible atrocities, sexual mutilation – where the hell are you?

I expect all civilized leaders, governments, nations, to speak up against this atrocity. pic.twitter.com/eFg3i6Y24h

— Prime Minister of Israel (@IsraeliPM) December 5, 2023

It took Jayapal two days to release her lame walk-back. It was in response to the blowback she received. Too little, too late. Tuesday night she called for a ceasefire. Because of course.

More than 15,000 Palestinians have died and thousands more have been injured. We need an indefinite ceasefire immediately to save innocent lives and have any hope for a long term political solution. https://t.co/6I9u6GtW9m

— Rep. Pramila Jayapal (@RepJayapal) December 6, 2023