Rep. Lee Zeldin, a Jewish Republican from New York, says he isn’t buying Rep. Ilhan Omar’s apology for comments that many said were anti-Semitic.
Omar, D-Minn., said in a tweet Monday that she apologizes “unequivocally” for her latest comments, in which she suggested that Israel was paying off lawmakers to keep them pro-Israel.
But Zeldin noted that her apology still said AIPAC is “problematic.”
“They’re accepting an apology via Twitter that unfortunately is not the end of it,” he said on Fox News. “The apology itself states that it’s an unequivocal apology, but it’s filled with equivocation.”
“Her apology comes across as, you know, sorry not sorry from Demi Lovato. I don’t take it as a real, sincere apology,” he added. “When she was asked about it last night on video, you see a lack of empathy and true understanding.”
Zeldin and Omar have tweeted at each other over the last few weeks, after Zeldin received an anti-Semitic voicemail. Omar said on Twitter that she agreed the message was “bigoted,” and suggested they get together to talk about religious discrimination.
But that meeting hasn’t happened yet, and Zeldin’s office said Omar has yet to agree to a time and place.
Meanwhile, Zeldin said Democrats are accepting a dangerous double standard. He said dozens of Democrats condemned Rep. Steve King, R-Iowa, for comments that seemed to embrace white nationalism.
King was stripped of his committee assignments by GOP leaders. But Zeldin said Democrats don’t seem to be taking any action against Omar aside from asking her to apologize.
“And now we have those same members, many of them tripping al over each other, running away from the House floor so they don’t have to condemn anti-Semitism,” he said of House Democrats.
