President Trump said Tuesday that Minnesota Rep. Ilhan Omar should consider resigning from Congress over a tweet widely seen as promoting anti-Jewish stereotypes.
“I think she should either resign from Congress, or she should certainly resign from the House Foreign Affairs Committee,” Trump said during a Cabinet meeting.
On Sunday, the Democratic congresswoman tweeted that U.S. political support for Israel was “all about the Benjamins baby.”
Omar apologized after bipartisan outrage, including from House Speaker Nancy Pelosi, D-Calif., who said in a joint statement with other Democratic leaders that “Congresswoman Omar’s use of anti-Semitic tropes and prejudicial accusations about Israel’s supporters is deeply offensive.”
In her apology, Omar said, “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.” She said she intended only to criticize the pro-lobbying group AIPAC’s influence in U.S. politics.
Omar, who was born in Mogadishu, Somalia, is one of the first Muslim women in Congress, along with Michigan Rep. Rashida Tlaib, also a Democrat, whose parents were born in Palestine.
Tlaib’s criticism of Israel also has incurred opprobrium. The Michigan congresswoman tweeted last month that senators “forgot what country they represent,” when they voted to penalize government contractors that advocate boycotting Israel over Jewish settlements in the West Bank.
