During a Senate hearing Tuesday, Sen. Josh Hawley, R-Mo., pressed Department of Homeland Security Secretary Alejandro Mayorkas over a DHS employee who praised Hamas' attack on Israel in social media posts. On "America's Newsroom" Wednesday, Hawley reflected on the heated exchange, calling out Mayorkas for having "no response" to questions about his employee's online behavior.
HAWLEY GRILLS MAYORKAS OVER DHS EMPLOYEE WHO CELEBRATED HAMAS TERROR ATTACK
SEN. JOSH HAWLEY: I find his evasiveness totally, completely unacceptable. And frankly, the idea that he would try to insulate himself from accountability. We're talking about people employed at his department. We are talking about people who are under his charge and his responsibility to the American public and yes, to Jewish Americans who frankly, Bret, fear for their lives and to know that there is a pro-terrorist, pro-Hamas sympathizer making immigration and asylum decisions. And to have no answer to that, to have no response, to have taken no meaningful action, I think is totally inexcusable. And he clearly had no answers yesterday.
The Missouri senator questioned Secretary Mayorkas Tuesday about his perspective on the antisemitic rhetoric and whether the employee was still employed by the department.
"What about people who say things like, on October the seventh, ‘F Israel’ — I’m cleaning up the language here — ‘F Israel, the government and its military, are you ready for your downfall?’ People who say things like, ‘F Israel and any Jew who supports Israel. May your conscience haunt your dreams until your last breath. Palestine will be free one day. F apartheid Israel.’ This is pretty extreme rhetoric, don’t you think?"
After Mayorkas argued there is a distinction between "espousing or endorsing terrorist ideology and speech that is odious," Hawley followed with some key details.
"This person works for you," he said, noting the DHS worker in question is "an employee of the Department of Homeland Security who posted these comments on October the seventh."
He went on, "That’s not all she posted," noting the department employee also posted a "fake graphic" depicting a "Hamas paraglider" armed with a machine gun and flying into Israel.
Hawley noted that this employee posted it with the celebratory caption, "Free PALESTINE."
Mayorkas and Hawley continued their heated exchange until Mayorkas responded that that employee is currently on administrative leave.
The secretary insisted he would not speak on such an ongoing personnel matter, as Hawley asked why the social media posts were not a sufficient reason to remove her from her job.
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FOX News' Alexander Hall contributed to this report.
