Reps. Ilhan Omar, D-Minn., and Lee Zeldin, R-N.Y., have yet to meet after the pair last week made tentative plans over Twitter to discuss religious discrimination over cups of Somali tea.
The plan was hatched after Zeldin, who is Jewish, shared an anti-Semitic voicemail message he’d received, and pressed Omar, a Somali-American Muslim, to answer whether she condoned the language. Omar slammed the contents of the message as “heinous and hateful,” said she is also the recipient of similarly “bigoted” messages, and suggested they talk about the issue further in person.
But Zeldin’s office told the Washington Examiner Monday a time and place is yet to be confirmed because Omar’s office hasn’t been able to nail down a time.
“We’ve been trying to set something up, but haven’t been able to as of now. We’re still waiting to hear back on times she’s available,” said Katie Vincentz, Zeldin’s spokeswoman.
Omar’s representatives did not respond to the Washington Examiner‘s request for comment.
Fissures between the duo emerged after a clash over Omar’s appointment to a House Foreign Affairs subcommittee, which Zeldin described as “crazy.”
Omar has been scrutinized for her positions on Israel, particularly her shifting stance on the boycott, divestment, and sanctions, or BDS, movement against the Israeli government. The freshman Democrat on Monday bowed to pressure from House Speaker Nancy Pelosi and other Democratic leaders to apologize for tweets she made Sunday suggesting that the American Israel Public Affairs Committee pays U.S. politicians to advocate on behalf of Israel.
However, the 37-year-old stood by her assertion that lobbyists play a “problematic” role in politics, which led some to say her apology wasn’t as strong as it needed to be.
“Anti-Semitism is real and I am grateful for Jewish allies and colleagues who are educating me on the painful history of anti-Semitic tropes,” Omar wrote. “We have to always be willing to step back and think through criticism, just as I expect people to hear me when others attack me for my identity. This is why I unequivocally apologize.”
Listening and learning, but standing strong ?? pic.twitter.com/7TSroSf8h1
— Ilhan Omar (@IlhanMN) February 11, 2019
Omar’s remorse over her comments hasn’t stopped Republicans, including House Minority Whip Steve Scalise, R-La., and Zeldin, from calling for her to be stripped of her House Foreign Affairs Committee assignment.
“The Speaker should remove Rep. Omar from the House Foreign Affairs Committee and allow a vote on House Resolution 72 to condemn anti-Israel and anti-Semitic hate in the United States and around the world,” Zeldin told the Washington Examiner.
