Fact check: Did this Democratic congressional candidate praise Hezbollah and Hamas?
The National Republican Congressional Committee is circulating a 7-yearold radio interview of a Democratic congressional candidate to depict her as a supporter of the militant groups Hezbollah and Hamas.
Jessica Morse is running to unseat Rocklin, California, Republican Rep. Kevin Kiley in 2024.
On Thursday, the NRCC picked up a post from conservative website Redstate recounting remarks Morse made about Hezbollah and Hamas in a 2016 interview she gave to Laguna Talks, on Orange County radio station KXFM.
Claim: That Morse “praised terrorist groups Hamas and Hezbollah.” Rating: False
Details: The interview was about a true crime novel Morse was working on, but the conversation landed on a discussion of turmoil in the Middle East.
During the conversation, host Billy Fried brought up Hezbollah, the Lebanese militant organization.
He said that groups like that are painted “onedimensionally” and that they “do good things for the community.”
“They build highways, they gain popularity, and so we see it one way, but it’s hard to convince a nation that they’re the bad guys,” Fried said.
Morse told Fried that she did not sympathize with militant groups at all, but acknowledged that organizations like Hezbollah and Hamas offer something to the people in their communities.
“A lot of these groups that are used, have foreign aid tactics, they use microcredit, they offer people jobs, they offer people security.
And so they come in as a stabilizing influence in these communities, and this is a model we’re seeing used over and over again,” she said.
Both Redstate and the NRCC seized on the statement to allege that Morse was praising the groups.
“If Morse still holds these views, she must be none too happy that the newlyminted House Speaker
Mike Johnson (R-LA) said his first act as Speaker will be putting forth a resolution of support to Israel and condemnation of Hamas for their role in starting the current war in the Middle East,” wrote Redstate blogger Jennifer Oliver O’connell.
NRCC spokesman Ben Petersen said in a statement that “what else would you expect from Jessica Morse.”
“Morse’s praise for
Hamas and Hezbollah terrorists responsible for the wanton murder of Jews and American military personnel is disqualifying,” Petersen said.
However, Petersen and O’connell’s remarks ignore the context of the conversation, which took place seven years before Hamas’ brutal Oct. 7 attack on Israel that killed at least 1,400 and sparked a war that has claimed thousands of lives.
Morse said she was not praising Hamas or Hezbollah, but instead remarking that the groups use microloans and jobs to win support in their communities.
“I wholeheartedly condemn Hamas and the horrific acts of terror and violence they have carried out against Israel,” Morse said in a statement Thursday. “Hamas is a terrorist organization that is devoted to the annihilation of Israel, and Israel and the international community should eliminate them. I never have and never will praise a terrorist organization,” Morse said.
She added that “to defeat an enemy, you have to understand it.”
“It is widely acknowledged in the national security community that Hamas and other terrorist organizations have used foreign aid tactics to ingratiate themselves into civilian populations and give themselves space to operate and plan their violent attacks,” Morse said.
“That is why foreign assistance is a pillar of national security because when the US and our allies deliver good governance, trash collection, clean water, etc, there is no vacuum of stability and security for terrorists like Hamas to try to fill.”