President Donald Trump branded a resolution passed in response to Democratic Rep. lIhan Omar’s anti-Semitic comments as “disgraceful.”
By Associated Press and World Israel News Staff
After the House of Representatives on Thursday passed a resolution condemning anti-Semitism amid a number of other forms of bigotry, but failed to specifically mention Democratic Rep. lIhan Omar’s anti-Semitic comments, President Donald Trump told reporters Friday the Democrats have become an “anti-Israel” and “anti-Jewish” party.
Democrats wrestled for days about whether or how to punish Omar, a freshman from Minnesota who has been dogged by accusations of anti-Semitism since she accused “evil” Israel of “hypnotiz[ing] the world” in 2012.
Most recently, she made a series of comments invoking the anti-Semitic trope that American Jews are suspect due to dual loyalty to Israel, in addition to posting on Twitter that the main -Israel lobby AIPAC pays off elected officials to support the Jewish state.
In response, the Democratic party argued over whether Omar should be singled out and what other types of bias should be decried in the text of the House resolution.
Omar, for her part, praised the resolution for condemning “anti-Muslim bigotry.”
The House passed the resolution in a 407-23 vote, with Democrats attempting to overcome a dispute that has overwhelmed their agenda and exposed fault lines that could shadow them through next year’s elections.
Republicans generally joined in the favorable vote, though nearly two-dozen opposed the measure, one calling it a “sham.”