President Donald Trump weighed in again Tuesday on the controversy surrounding antisemitic remarks by Rep. Ilhan Omar (D-MN), who apologized Monday at the behest of Democratic leaders but kept her committee posts.
Trump told a Cabinet meeting open to reporters: “I think [Omar] should either resign from Congress or she should certainly resign from the House Foreign Affairs Committee.” He also cast doubt on the sincerity of her apology.
His full remarks, via pool report, were as follows:
Anti-Semitism has no place in the United States Congress. And Congressman Omar, it’s terrible what she said and I think she should either resign from Congress or she should certainly resign from the House Foreign Affairs Committee.
What she said is so deep-seeded in her heart that her lame apology, that’s what it was, it was lame and she didn’t mean a word of it, was just not appropriate.
I think she should resign from Congress frankly, but at a minimum she shouldn’t be on committees, certainly that committee.
Omar apologized but vowed to continue criticizing the American Israel Public Affairs Committee (AIPAC), the pro-Israel lobbying organization that she falsely accused of paying members of Congress to support Israel.
Omar’s offending tweets — from this and another occasion — remain live.
It’s all about the Benjamins baby https://t.co/KatcXJnZLV
— Ilhan Omar (@IlhanMN) February 10, 2019
AIPAC! https://t.co/UdzaFUEfrh
— Ilhan Omar (@IlhanMN) February 11, 2019
Israel has hypnotized the world, may Allah awaken the people and help them see the evil doings of Israel. #Gaza #Palestine #Israel
— Ilhan Omar (@IlhanMN) November 16, 2012
In denouncing Omar’s comments as antisemitic, Speaker of the House Nancy Pelosi (D-CA) — who appointed Omar to the House Foreign Affairs Committee last month — claimed that she and fellow Democrats “are and will always be strong supporters of Israel.”
Republicans stripped Rep. Steve King (R-IA) of his committee seats last month after he appeared to support white supremacy and white nationalism in a New York Times interview, though he said his words were taken out of context.
Omar supports the “boycott, divestment, sanctions” (BDS) movement against Israel, which many critics consider antisemitic because it singles out Israel.
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.
This article has been updated to include the president’s full remarks.
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