Freshman Democratic Rep. Ilhan Omar appeared to push back against House Judiciary Chairman Jerry Nadler’s comments that seemed to place her on par with President Trump in espousing anti-Semitic rhetoric.
Omar made her frustrations known in a series of tweets Friday afternoon, saying that “it is sickening to watch people make false equivalences between the open bigotry and hatred of this President and progressives.”
That’s why it is sickening to watch people make false equivalences between the open bigotry and hatred of this President and progressives.
— Ilhan Omar (@IlhanMN) August 23, 2019
The Minnesota Democrat appeared to be responding to Nadler’s tweet a day earlier in which he denounced Trump and Omar for their demagogic comments that some see as a promotion of anti-Semitism throughout the country.
“The growing anti-Semitism in our political dialogue is repugnant,” Nadler tweeted. “@realdonaldtrump’s comments about disloyalty are a vicious and dangerous anti-Semitic trope. And the Carlos Latuff cartoon forwarded by @RepRashida and @Ilhan can surely be read for its vile underlying message.”
The growing anti-Semitism in our political dialogue is repugnant. @realdonaldtrump’s comments about disloyalty are a vicious and dangerous anti-Semitic trope. And the Carlos Latuff cartoon forwarded by @RepRashida and @Ilhan can surely be read for its vile underlying message.
— (((Rep. Nadler))) (@RepJerryNadler) August 22, 2019
Nadler cited a cartoon that Omar and fellow freshman Rep. Tlaib had shared on Instagram, which depicted Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu silencing Tlaib by putting his hand over her mouth and Trump doing the same gesture to Omar. The cartoon’s artist finished second in the International Holocaust Cartoon Contest in 2006.
Omar also asserted in her tweets that she could not speak out against Islamophobia if she does not also stand up against “the dangerous rise in anti-Semitism.” She also claimed that she defends “all religious minorities — at every turn.”
For my part, I have sought to lift up these values—to speak up for all religious minorities—at every turn. https://t.co/DWGLrV4Wmb
— Ilhan Omar (@IlhanMN) August 23, 2019
Omar also admitted her past mistakes of making anti-Semitic remarks, saying she would look to account for and learn from her “own mistakes to become a better ally.”
“But now is not the time for false equivalences,” she reiterated. “Our president is attacking basic values of religious pluralism. You are either serious about protecting religious minorities of all stripes or you are not serious about any.”
But now is not the time for false equivalences.
Our president is attacking basic values of religious pluralism.You are either serious about protecting religious minorities of all stripes or you are not serious about any.
— Ilhan Omar (@IlhanMN) August 23, 2019
