Appearing on CNN Tuesday afternoon, Rep. Ilhan Omar sparked more outrage as she doubled down on her inflammatory claim that Israel and the U.S. are akin to Hamas and the Taliban because they all commit “unthinkable atrocities.”
After host Jake Tapper read her June 7 comments and widespread condemnations, Omar expressed no regret for her controversial statements.
Ilhan Omar: "I don't" regret equating U.S. and Israel with the Taliban and Hamas terrorists. pic.twitter.com/XpR0e6kVeo
— Mike Berg (@MikeKBerg) June 29, 2021
When Tapper asked if she understood why Jewish organizations and even her Democratic colleagues find her language anti-Semitic, the Minnesotan said, “I’ve welcomed anytime my colleagues asked to have a conversation to learn from them, for them to learn from me. I think it’s really important for these [House] members to realize that they haven’t been partners in justice. They haven’t been engaging in seeking justice around the world and I think I will continue to do that.”
“It is important for me as someone who knows what it feels like to experience injustice in ways that many of my colleagues don’t,” Omar added.
Ilhan Omar tells Jake Tapper that Jewish House members who criticized her hateful anti-Semitic rhetoric “haven’t been partners in justice.” Tapper just sits there with a dumb look on his face. pic.twitter.com/yAeAhmqlQb
— Arthur Schwartz (@ArthurSchwartz) June 29, 2021
After the segment, columnist Shoshanna Keats Jaskoll deemed it “a master class on how to avoid taking responsibility or acknowledging your bigotry while reattacking those you’ve already offended with fresh allegations all while making yourself the victim.”
The Republican Jewish Committee quickly asked the Jewish Democratic Council of America to denounce Omar’s comments.
“Or, is the JDCA and Hallie Soifer going to show us all, once again, that they’re frauds?” the RJC said.
Sen. Tom Cotton indicated that Omar needs to finally be removed from the Foreign Affairs Committee.
But Rep. David Cicilline of Rhode Island defended the radical rant, mostly using the race card.
“There they go again … right-wingers in Washington are once again claiming Rep. Ilhan Omar said something she didn’t say, and trying to create controversy where there is none. It’s pathetic that they are (once again) demonizing a young woman of color to score political points,” he wrote on Twitter.
Three weeks ago, House Democratic leaders scolded Omar’s insidious rhetoric.
“Drawing false equivalencies between democracies like the U.S. and Israel and groups that engage in terrorism like Hamas and the Taliban foments prejudice and undermines progress toward a future of peace and security for all. We welcome the clarification by Congresswoman Omar that there is no moral equivalency between the U.S. and Israel and Hamas and the Taliban,” said the statement.
The congresswoman replied by deeming her Democratic colleagues “Islamophobic.”
While Omar’s left-wing colleague in St. Paul, Rep. Betty McCollum, sided with her this month, using similarly anti-Jewish language, and Rep. Dean Phillips has sent mixed signals, there have been no comments nor condemnations from Minnesota Democratic Rep. Angie Craig or Sens. Amy Klobuchar and Tina Smith about Omar’s continued bigotry.
Speaker Nancy Pelosi refused to address the latest anti-Semitism Thursday.
A.J. Kaufman
A.J. Kaufman is an Alpha News columnist. His work has appeared in the Baltimore Sun, Florida Sun-Sentinel, Indianapolis Star, Israel National News, Orange County Register, St. Cloud Times, Star-Tribune, and across AIM Media Midwest and the Internet. Kaufman previously worked as a school teacher and military historian.
