President Donald Trump slammed Democrats as an “anti-Israel party” after the latest comments by radical Rep. Ilhan Omar (D-Minn.) in which she questioned why lawmakers support the Middle Eastern country.
“Democrats have become an anti-Israel party, they’ve become an anti-Jewish party,” Trump told reporters on March 8.
“That’s too bad.”
President Trump: “I thought yesterday’s vote by the House was disgraceful, because it’s become — the Democrats have become an anti-Israel party. They’ve become an anti-Jewish party. And I thought that vote was a disgrace and so does everybody else if you get an honest answer.” pic.twitter.com/TNmPRMwNJA
— CSPAN (@cspan) March 8, 2019
Trump’s statement came after a resolution condemning anti-Semitism finally came to a vote on March 7 but only after Democrats broadened the resolution with portions condemning other kinds of hate, including “anti-Muslim bigotry.”
Omar is a Muslim.
The Somalia-born representative sparked a fresh uproar after saying: “I want to talk about the political influence in this country that says it is OK to push for allegiance to a foreign country.”
Previously, Omar said that “Israel has hypnotized the world” and supported the anti-Israel Boycott, Divest, and Sanctions movement.
Omar also took to Twitter in February to insinuate that the Jewish group AIPAC was behind a scheme to exchange funding for politicians in return for support of Israel. After fierce criticism, she apologized but also suggested she was being criticized for speaking her mind.
Omar has not apologized for the latest comments, which many perceived as a smear against lawmakers who support both the United States and Israel, and earned praise from former KKK leader David Duke.
Trying to explain why the resolution was amended from its original version that only condemned anti-Semitism, House Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-Calif.) said on March 7 that a new version of the resolution was expanded to “speak out against anti-Semitism, anti-Islamophobia, anti-white supremacy and all the forms that it takes.” The speaker added that it is up to Omar to “explain” her latest remarks.
Omar was not named in the resolution.
“I feel confident that her words were not based on any anti-Semitic attitude,” Pelosi added, “but that she didn’t have a full appreciation of how they landed on other people where these words have a history and a cultural impact that might have been unknown to her.”
Trump slammed Democrats on March 6 for failing to condemn Omar and previously called her comments “a dark day on Israel.”
The far-left lawmaker should resign, he suggested.
“It is shameful that House Democrats won’t take a stronger stand against Anti-Semitism in their conference. Anti-Semitism has fueled atrocities throughout history and it’s inconceivable they will not act to condemn it!” Trump wrote on Twitter.
It is shameful that House Democrats won’t take a stronger stand against Anti-Semitism in their conference. Anti-Semitism has fueled atrocities throughout history and it’s inconceivable they will not act to condemn it!
— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) March 6, 2019
The resolution was approved by many in Congress but not all due to its expanded language.
“Today’s resolution vote was a sham put forward by Democrats to avoid condemning one of their own and denouncing vile anti-Semitism. While I stand wholeheartedly against discrimination outlined in this resolution, the language before the House today did not address the issue that is front and center,” Rep. Liz Cheney (R-Mont.) explained in a statement regarding why she didn’t vote for the resolution.
“Rep. Omar’s comments were wrong and she has proven multiple times that she embodies a vile, hate-filled, anti-Semitic, anti-Israel bigotry. She deserves to be rebuked, by name, and removed from the House Foreign Affairs Committee so that there is no mistake about the values and priorities that the House stands for.”
In a floor speech, Rep. Lee Zeldin (R-N.Y.) said that Republicans stripped Rep. Steve King (R-Iowa) of his committee assignments after controversial comments about white nationalists in January and named him in a resolution the House passed condemning white nationalism, in contrast to Democrats neither stripping Omar of committee assignments nor naming her in the resolution.
H.Res.183 was spineless, watered down & filled w moral equivalency & double standards. Watch my floor speech explaining my NO vote to this resolution. Name names & remove Rep Omar from @HouseForeign. No double standards! pic.twitter.com/Rj17P6MHFI
— Lee Zeldin (@RepLeeZeldin) March 7, 2019
We can be no more or any less than what those experiences allow us to be.
To recognize and honor the experiences of one member of our Caucus does not mean that we ignore or dishonor the experiences of another. pic.twitter.com/YdzGPFoQk6
— James E. Clyburn (@WhipClyburn) March 7, 2019
On the other side, high-level Democrats defended Omar’s comments, including House Majority Whip James Clyburn (D-S.C.), who suggested Omar’s comments stemmed from the pain she experienced in Somalia before fleeing the country. He believes it is much more empirical compared to people who are generations removed from the Holocaust and other violent historical episodes.
“I’m serious about that. There are people who tell me, ‘Well, my parents are Holocaust survivors.’ ‘My parents did this.’ It’s more personal with her,” Clyburn told The Hill. “I’ve talked to her, and I can tell you she is living through a lot of pain.”
Clyburn released a statement on March 7 saying he was not minimizing the Holocaust.
“Every student of history, which I consider myself to be, recognizes the Holocaust as a unique atrocity which resulted in the deaths of six million Jews,” he said. “It should never be minimized; I never have and I never will.”