U.S. Rep. Jahana Hayes clapped back on comments from Republican analysts who accused her of standing “with the antisemites who want to destroy the state of Israel” on a Sunday morning political talk show.
Hayes called the comments, made by former Connecticut Senate Minority Leader John McKinney on WTNH’s Capitol Report, “outrageous and inflammatory” in a tweet after the segment aired Sunday.
In the same statement, Hayes said McKinney’s words linked her to a “terrorist organization.” Hayes demanded “a retraction and an apology,” if McKinney could not say what the comments were based on.
Hayes’ response led to a firestorm of tweets from Republican Strategist Liz Kurantowicz, a fellow analyst on Capitol Report who accused Hayes of supporting the Council on American-Islamic Relations, a Muslim civil rights and advocacy group that Kurantowicz described as an “Anti-Israel Group That’s Now Defending Hamas.”
Farhan Memon, the chair of the Connecticut chapter of CAIR, criticized McKinney and Kurantowicz’s rhetoric, saying it “leads to hate in our communities.”
But after a heated exchange with Kurantowicz on X, Hayes signaled on a local radio show that followers of her campaign can expect more combative engagement with critics in the lead-up to what is likely to be a tight race between Hayes and her Republican opponent George Logan this November.
McKinney made his remarks Sunday during a portion of the show discussing Hayes’ response to a visit to Connecticut by House Speaker Mike Johnson to endorse Logan.
“There are a lot of Jewish voters in the Fifth District and Johanna Hayes doesn’t stand with them, she doesn’t stand with the state of Israel, she stands with the antisemites who want to destroy the state of Israel,” McKinney said.
In a series of tweets, Kurantowicz accused Hayes of writing a letter in support of CAIR, meeting with the group and evading questions about whether or not she supported CAIR after its national leader Nihad Awad came under fire for saying he was “happy to see people breaking” out of Gaza on the day of the Oct. 7 terrorist attack on Israel and that “the people of Gaza have the right to self-defense,” but that “Israel as an occupying power does not” in a November speech.
In an interview Monday on WTIC 1080’s Brian and Company with host Brian Shactman, Hayes said she met with Jewish groups, religious leaders and members of CAIR-CT in a series of meetings after Oct. 7.
“To say now that their (CAIR’s) national leader made some inflammatory comments and showed some support of Hamas, and that means that by extension I support a terrorist group, is crazy. I support my constituents and I am their congresswoman, and I have a responsibility and obligation to hear from them,” Hayes told Shactman Monday.
Hayes said that as a congresswoman, it is her job “to talk to people who have differing viewpoints.”
“These members of the Muslim community had family members in Palestine that they were concerned about, and they requested a meeting with their congresswoman,” Hayes said. “I would hope that anybody in this job wouldn’t say, ‘If I disagree with you, you don’t have access to this office.’”
Hayes said she wrote a letter to CAIR “thanking them for their work to combat Islamophobia and anti-Muslim hate.” She told Shachtman she wrote that letter “two years ago.”
A copy of a letter shared by CAIR-CT showed that Hayes authored a letter to the organization that was dated Oct. 28, 2023.
A representative of Hayes’ team said the letter to CAIR was written and submitted on Sept. 11, 2023 in order to meet a printing deadline. The representative said Hayes has written similar letters to the organization in past, including in 2019.
Memon, CAIR-CT’s chairman, said that with the exception of Joe Courtney, he has met with every member of Connecticut’s federal delegation since Oct. 7.
In a statement Monday, Memon said that “CAIR has repeatedly and unequivocally condemned the attacks against Israeli civilians on Oct. 7.”
“It’s lazy and racist to say an American civil rights organization that defends freedom of religion and anti-discrimination for all people supports terrorism because we believe in the rights of Palestinians to self-determination in all its forms,” Memon said. “Our religion, Islam, teaches us that people have a right to defend themselves when they are oppressed. But there are clear rules — not to intentionally kill non-combatants, old people, children or women. People shouldn’t attack houses of worship or kill people in them.”
Memon said CAIR “rejects’ comments Hayes made during her interview with Shachtman in which she stated that she supports Israel but that “Israel needs to be more careful about the death of innocent civilians in Gaza.”
“When a country is committing genocide it’s intentional and when political leaders in the US choose to excuse it, then they are complicit,” Memon said.
Supporters of Israel in its war against Hamas have rejected accusations of genocide, arguing that the violence in Gaza is necessary to defend Israel from the terrorists.
Hayes has called for an end to the violence in Gaza, the release of all hostages and the elimination of Hamas. On Monday, Hayes reiterated these comments.
“Two things can be true. The state of Israel has a right to exist and protect itself. And we also have to be careful … that innocent children in Gaza are not dying,” Hayes told Shactman Monday. “I have voted for funding for Israel, but I also think that we have to demand that humanitarian assistance go to that region. And everything that we do moving forward is with a two-state solution in mind. So that Israeli people and the Palestinian people can live in peace.”
When Shactman asked why Hayes would engage with McKinney and Kurantowicz, Hayes said she wanted to stand in contrast this election cycle to what she characterized as false narratives after having her integrity and character “attacked for 18 months.”
“Last cycle I didn’t engage at all. And I let them create this narrative and run out the ticker. And then when I realized, ‘Wait, people are starting to believe this,’” Hayes said.
“I ran a campaign last time where I didn’t punch back thinking that we’ll just talk about policy,” Hayes added. We’re not playing by the same rules. So I don’t plan to get nasty in this race, but I do plan to create the contrast, to respond in real-time, to direct attacks against me, and to get people to show the receipts for the things that they’re saying.”
This article has been updated to reflect that the letter Hayes wrote for CAIR was written before the Oct. 7 attack.
