'Utterly bizarre backfire': How Republicans just bumbled into saving Democrats from their divisive debate over an anti-hate resolution

A House resolution denouncing hate passed overwhelmingly Thursday afternoon — but about two dozen defections from the measure came from a surprising source.

Democrats have been riven with dissent and disagreement this week as the backlash and counter-backlash to comments from Rep. Ilhan Omar (D-MN) about Israel — which have drawn accusations of anti-Semitism — led to competing factions within the party. But in a spectacularly bizarre move, a large group of House Republicans ended up taking a step that overshadowed Democrats' divisions.

In response to Omar's comments, Democratic leadership in the House pushed a resolution that would condemn anti-Semitism, but not name the Minnesota lawmaker directly. But even this plan worried many of Omar's defenders, who said it was clear she was being targeted and that Islamophobic bigotry she has experienced has gone unaddressed. So the resolution was eventually widened to become a condemnation of hate in a very broad sense — so much so that some observers criticized the proposal as essentially vacuous.

But dozens of Republicans bizarrely decided that they couldn't back this watered-down resolution, despite the fact that the party had seized on Omar's remarks to argue that Democrats are the party of hatred.

Omar herself ended up voting for the bill, while many Republicans voted "no" or simply "present."

Rep. Louie Gohmert (R-TX) justified his "no" vote by arguing that anti-Semitism "is a very special kind of hatred that should never be watered down," as BuzzFeed News reporter Paul McLeod reported.

“While I stand whole-heartedly against discrimination outlined in this resolution, the language before the House today did not address the issue that is front and center,” said Rep. Liz Cheney (R-WI).

"What an utterly bizarre backfire," said McLeod. "This was supposed to be awkward for Democrats because it was an unofficial rebuke of Rep. Ilhan Omar. Yet in the end Omar voted to condemn anti-Semitism and 26 Republicans (and counting) voted not to."

"House Democrats have been under pressure for a week on anti-semitism but House Republicans have bailed them out," said Politico reporter Jake Sherman. "No 3 house r Liz Cheney, Lee zeldin and Louie Gohmert vote no. Jeff Duncan present. An embarrassing moment for house gop."

In the end, 23 Republicans voted against the resolution. Rep. Steve King (R-IA), who has a long history of racist rhetoric and had even defended white nationalism, voted present. The rest of the chamber, 407 lawmakers, approved the measure.