Rep. Rashida Tlaib, D-Mich., says the anger in Congress and elsewhere over controversial remarks made about Israel by fellow freshman congresswoman Ilhan Omar,D-Minn., is due to her religion and race.
“Because she’s Muslim and because she’s black, she’s an easier target for them to attack and target,” Tlaib said Sunday on CNN’s “State of the Union.”
When asked if Tlaib was suggesting that Democrats who were upset by Omar’s comments did so because of anti-Muslim bias, Tlaib, who is Muslim, said she thinks “that’s part of it.”
Omar’s comments and tweets directed toward Israel have been seen by many in both parties as being anti-Semitic. Democrats originally crafted a resolution condemning anti-Semitism as a rebuke of Omar’s statements, but later scrapped that in favor of a resolution condemning all forms of racism.
Tlaib said Sunday she saw a “double standard” in Congress for lawmakers who have used anti-Semitic language but who were not condemned for it, though she didn’t cite anyone by name.
“Is it because she’s a black Muslima? Is it because it’s around the issue of human rights violations from the country of Israel? I don’t know,” Tlaib said. “But I can tell you, if it was really about anti-Semitism and condemning that, then we need to be able to say to all the members — and that’s what we ended up (doing) at the end condemning all forms of hate — but also holding every single person accountable to the same standard. And that’s what I didn’t see.”
Speaking about the recent attack in New Zealand that killed at least 50 Muslims, Tlaib called on President Trump to condemn Islamophobia and white supremacy directly,
“He needs to do better by us and the country,” Tlaib said. “He needs to speak up and condemn this very loud and very clearly.”
