Democratic Congresswoman Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez of New York has repeatedly defended anti-Semite Ilhan Omar. She defended the Minnesota congresswoman when she accused American Jews of having dual loyalties, and she defended Omar again when she claimed that wealthy Jews control Republicans in Congress.
So, it’s a bit rich that Ocasio-Cortez is now alleging anti-Semitism following President Trump’s address this weekend at the Israeli American Council National Summit. Trump began that event by noting his personal acquaintance with some of the summit’s attendees. He also boasted about his decision to make good on the U.S. government’s longstanding commitment to move its embassy in Israel to Jerusalem.
“So, we’re going to spend $2 billion, and one of them was going to buy a lousy location,” the president said.
Trump, a former real estate developer, continued, saying, “A lot of you are in the real estate business because I know you very well. You’re brutal killers. Not nice people at all.”
The crowd laughed.
“But you have to vote for me; you have no choice. You’re not going to vote for Pocahontas, I can tell you that,” he said in reference to Sen. Elizabeth Warren of Massachusetts.
The crowd erupted in laughter and applause.
“You’re not going to vote for the wealth tax. ‘Yeah, let’s take 100% of your wealth away.’ No, no. Even if you don’t like me; some of you don’t. Some of you, I don’t like at all, actually,” Trump continued as the laughs kept on coming. “And you’re going to be my biggest supporters because you’ll be out of business in about 15 minutes if they get it. So, I don’t have to spend a lot of time on that.”
That same day, Democratic activist Aaron Rupar tweeted an abbreviated version of Trump’s jokey remarks with only a partial transcript. And, as usual, Ocasio-Cortez did not let her incomplete understanding of the situation get in the way of her instant commentary.
“This is outright and atrocious antisemitism coming from the President,” the congresswoman tweeted, “and it is dangerous.”
This is outright and atrocious antisemitism coming from the President, and it is dangerous. https://t.co/E21xMrqSsP
— Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (@AOC) December 9, 2019
This is not the first time this year that Trump has told voters that they basically have no choice but to vote for him given the alternative, which is people like Warren pushing things like a wealth tax.
So yeah, what Trump said this weekend is not actual anti-Semitism. But this may explain Ocasio-Cortez’s confusion over her anti-Semitic pal, Omar, who believes Israel has “hypnotized the world” to hide its “evil doings” and who issued a non-apology for saying Republican support for the Jewish state is “all about the Benjamins” and that there is “political influence” in the United States “that says it is OK for people to push for allegiance to a foreign country.”
As you can see, Omar has, at various points, gotten every dog within the District of Columbia barking. And Ocasio-Cortez has repeatedly come to her defense.
“Unlike this President,” the Queens congresswoman tweeted at the time, Omar “demonstrated a capacity to acknowledge pain & apologize, use the opportunity to learn abt history of antisemitism,+grow from it while clarifying her stance. I’m also inspired by Jewish leadership who brought her in, not push her out, to heal.”
Ocasio-Cortez added, in defense of Omar’s “Benjamins” remark, “I’m proud [she] raised the issue of lobbyist [money] in politics & equally proud of her sensitivity to communities.” Of course. Lobbyists. (Wink.)
