House Democrats cannot agree on a resolution to condemn antisemitism, and a closed-door meeting Wednesday to discuss the issue reportedly collapsed into infighting as rank-and-file members challenged the party leadership.
The meeting “erupted into a full-scale brawl Wednesday,” the Washington Post reported, as some “protested plans to vote this week on a resolution condemning religious hatred, a measure prompted by [Minnesota Rep. Ilhan] Omar’s comments last week suggesting supporters of Israel have “allegiance to a foreign country” (original link).
Omar, who apologized last month for antisemitic comments, set off a new crisis last week when she accused pro-Israel Americans of “allegiance to a foreign country.” Democrat leaders, who have tried to portray President Donald Trump as a bigot, tried to manage the political fallout by promising a vote on a resolution condemning antisemitism on Wednesday. The resolution did not mention Omar specifically, and also condemned anti-Muslim prejudice.
The Post noted: “Initially the measure targeted only anti-Semitism, with some Democrats pushing for a direct rebuke of Omar, but by Tuesday night — facing backlash from members not on board with the plan — leaders decided to expand it to include anti-Muslim bias.” Even that was not good enough for the Democratic caucus.
In contrast, a resolution passed in January — and supported by Republicans — to condemn racist remarks by Rep. Steve King (R-IA) mentioned King specifically in the opening sentence. Republicans also stripped King of his committee assignments. Democrat leaders have declined to remove Omar from her committees — including the House Foreign Affairs Committee, where she oversees U.S.-Israel relations, among other contentious issues.
Speaker Pelosi could not commit Wednesday to a date for a vote on a resolution condemning antisemitism, and said that she did not think Omar’s comments had been “intentionally” antisemitic — even though Omar repeated them after House Foreign Affairs Committee chair declared publicly that Omar had used a “vile anti-Semitic slur.”
We just caught up w @SpeakerPelosi on Omar …
— Jake Sherman (@JakeSherman) March 6, 2019
She said she isn’t sure a resolution will get a vote this week. She said foreign affairs committee is writing it.
— Jake Sherman (@JakeSherman) March 6, 2019
PELOSI just told us she did not think @IlhanMN’s comments were “intentionally anti Semitic”
— Jake Sherman (@JakeSherman) March 6, 2019
Many pro-Israel Democrats — most of whom are not Jewish — have bristled at Omar’s suggestions that they owe allegiance to Israel, or that they had been bribed by pro-Israel groups. But the party has yet to take any action.
Earlier this month, House Majority Leader Steny Hoyer (D-MD), who had earlier defended Omar against charges of antisemitism, promised the party would take “further action” if she failed to learn and persisted in her rhetoric.
Joel B. Pollak is Senior Editor-at-Large at Breitbart News. He is a winner of the 2018 Robert Novak Journalism Alumni Fellowship. He is also the co-author of How Trump Won: The Inside Story of a Revolution, which is available from Regnery. Follow him on Twitter at @joelpollak.
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