House Majority Whip James Clyburn (D-S.C.) attempted to defend Rep. Ilhan Omar (D-MN) by downplaying the significance of the pain of families of Holocaust survivors.
According to the Hill, Clyburn spoke with reporters yesterday and lamented the fact that many media reports on the Congresswoman’s anti-Semitic comments did not mention the fact that she fled violence in Somalia and was a Kenyan refugee before she made her way to the United States.
Clyburn told reporters, “There are people who tell me, ‘Well, my parents are Holocaust survivors.’ ‘My parents did this.’ It’s more personal with her … I’ve talked to her, and I can tell you she is living through a lot of pain.”
Omar has come under fire in recent weeks for numerous anti-Semitic comments. Most recently, the congresswoman claimed that lawmakers who support Israel “hold an allegiance to a foreign country.”
In February, she cliamed that Jewish advocacy group, AIPAC, paid off members of Congress for their support.
On Monday, some of the country’s leading Jewish organizations demanded that Rep. Ilhan Omar (D-MN) be removed from the House Foreign Affairs Committee for her anti-Semitism, according to an exclusive report by the Washington Free Beacon.
In a letter to Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-CA) and House Foreign Affairs Committee Chairman Eliot Engel (D-NY), the group writes that Omar’s recent comments, anti-Semitic tweets, as well as her address before the Islamic Relieve USA in February are grounds for her removal from the influential committee.
“In light of Rep. Ilhan Omar’s recent anti-Semitic tweets, statements, and address before Islamic Relief USA on Saturday, February 23rd, we, the undersigned organizations, request that you immediately remove her as a member of the House Foreign Affairs Committee,” they write.
“We hope you will continue to demonstrate your commitment to the high moral standards of your office by removing Rep. Omar, a woman who has repeatedly exhibited strong biases against the State of Israel and the Jewish people, from this critically important and sensitive committee,” the letter states.
House Democrats have delayed a vote condemning anti-Semitism after progressive lawmakers like Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (D-NY) came to the defense of Omar.
The resolution was supposed to be introduced today and condemned anti-Semitism after Omar sparked outrage with her incendiary, anti-Semitic rhetoric.
According to Fox News, the resolution was going to state that the House “rejects anti-Semitism as hateful expressions of intolerance that are contradictory to the values that define the people of the United States.”
