Speaker of the House Nancy Pelosi (D-CA) defended Rep. Ilhan Omar (D-MN) today and expressed her confidence that the freshman Congresswoman’s recent anti-Israel comments were “not based on any anti-Semitic attitude.”
House Speaker Nancy Pelosi reacts to Democratic Rep. Ilhan Omar's Israel remarks: "I do not believe that she understood the full weight of the words. … I feel confident that her words were not based on any anti-Semitic attitude” https://t.co/xWkFWNXMEt pic.twitter.com/wgTfhHdqay
— CNN Politics (@CNNPolitics) March 7, 2019
“I do not believe that she understood the full weight of the words. … I feel confident that her words were not based on any anti-Semitic attitude,” she told reporters today.
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 claimed that Jewish advocacy group, AIPAC, paid off members of Congress for their support.
The House will vote today on a resolution “opposing hate,” after progressive Democrats opposed original plans to vote on a resolution condemning anti-Semitism in response to Omar’s incendiary rhetoric.
Fox News reports:
A senior House Democratic source told Fox News the resolution is expected to be introduced and voted on later Thursday, but said the text is still being finalized. Fox News is told the resolution is being drafted by Maryland Rep. Jamie Raskin and Louisiana Rep. Cedric Richmond, both Democrats.
A Democratic source told Fox News on Wednesday that Pelosi has been “taken aback” by the growing dissent and anger among rank-and-file Democrats over the resolution — highlighting Pelosi’s tenuous grip on control over the House and underscoring the growing power of the party’s nascent far-left progressive wing.
Pelosi reportedly walked out of a meeting Wednesday with Democrat House members, setting down her microphone and telling attendees, “Well, if you’re not going to listen to me, I’m done talking.”
