Representative Ilhan Omar (D-MN) has made a huge splash in the Swamp, this time angering the vice president of the United States to the point that he has called for the Somali-American refugee rep. to be removed from the House Foreign Affairs Committee. During the annual America Israel Public Affairs Committee (AIPAC) meeting, Mike Pence said anti-Semitism has no place in Congress, referring to comments by the freshman lawmaker.
“Recently a freshman Democrat in Congress trafficked in repeated anti-Semitic tropes,” Pence said. “Alleged congressional support for Israel reflected allegiance to a foreign country. Said Israel, and I quote, ‘hypnotized the world.’ And she accused Americans who support Israel of being bought off by campaign contributions. Anti-semitism has no place in the Congress of the United States of America!”
After a dramatic pause, wherein the audience whole-heartedly agreed with thunderous applause, the vice president continued:
“And at a minimum anyone who slanders those who support this historic alliance between the United States and Israel should never have a seat on the Foreign Affairs Committee in the United States House of Representatives.”
.@VP referring to @Ilhan:"Anti-semitism has no place in the Congress of United States of America…" #AIPAC2019 pic.twitter.com/t2qNTGTnNt
— CSPAN (@cspan) March 25, 2019
In case you have been camping in the wilderness without cell phone signal or internet connection, you can read more about Omar’s comments and House reactions in Liberty Nation’s article by Sarah Cowgill. But here is a snippet to whet your appetite:
“Israel has hypnotized the world, may Allah awaken the people and help them see the evil doings of Israel,” she [Omar] declared. More recently, she accused her co-congressional peeps of being in bed with American Israel Public Affairs Committee (AIPAC) for their financial support, commenting “It’s all about the Benjamins baby.”
Benjamin Wallace-Wells wrote an editorial piece in The New Yorker detailing the experience he had during a meeting with Omar after the House had just passed a resolution against hate speech – which was the Dems way to try and silence the rookie without making it too obvious. He asked how it felt to be on the floor when the House voted for the anti-hate resolution. Wallace-Wells said she answered with disinterest: “Yeah, I don’t know,” she said. “I think it’s more interesting to people like you than me.”
Ilhan Omar
Hmmm. And which people would that be? Americans? Reporters?
Omar has had a difficult life experiencing war as a child, and perhaps that has blinded her to her own verbal attacks on Americans as well as people of other nationalities. While she can be lauded for accomplishing so much after such a difficult childhood, that doesn’t mean she is the right person to represent the American people and foreign affairs.
Pence is only the latest person to publicly condemn Omar’s anti-Semitism. In just the few short months since being elected to the 116th Congress, the woman has drawn a deep battle line down the political aisle, and even her own Democratic brethren are desperately trying to perform an acrobatic balancing act to try and maintain peace. How much longer will she get away with her hate comments? How long will the Democrats be willing – or even able – to protect her from herself?
