Trump Wants Her to Resign. Instead, She Takes a Swing

Rep. Ilhan Omar tweets that Trump has 'trafficked in hate your whole life'
By Newser Editors,  Newser Staff
Posted Feb 13, 2019 9:55 AM CST
Updated Feb 13, 2019 2:30 PM CST
Trump Wants Her to Resign. Instead, She Goes After Him
In this Feb. 5, 2019, file photo, Rep. Ilhan Omar, D-Minn., listens to President Trump's State of the Union speech at the Capitol in Washington.   (AP Photo/J. Scott Applewhite, File)

Freshman Democratic Rep. Ilhan Omar "unequivocally" apologized on Monday for tweets suggesting Jews used money to control politics. "Anti-Semitism is real and I am grateful for Jewish allies and colleagues who are educating me on the painful history of anti-Semitic tropes," she said in part. That wasn't an adequate response for President Trump, who on Tuesday described it like so at a Cabinet meeting, per USA Today: "Her lame apology—and that's what it was; it was lame, and she didn't mean a word of it—was just not appropriate." He continued, per the Hill: "Anti-Semitism has no place in the United States Congress. And I think she should either resign from Congress or she should certainly resign from the House Foreign Affairs Committee." Things have gotten more heated from there:

  • She fired back at the president Wednesday morning on Twitter. "Hi @realDonaldTrump," Omar began her tweet. "You have trafficked in hate your whole life—against Jews, Muslims, Indigenous, immigrants, black people and more. I learned from people impacted by my words. When will you?"
  • Mike Pence followed his boss' lead, tweeting this on Wednesday: "@IlhanMN tweets were a disgrace & her apology was inadequate. Anti-Semitism has no place in the United States Congress, much less the Foreign Affairs Committee. Those who engage in anti-Semitic tropes should not just be denounced, they should face consequences for their words."
  • Would Democrats consider either of Trump's proposed punishments? "Ridiculous," a rep for Nancy Pelosi told Vanity Fair.
  • The Washington Post reports by way of Democratic sources that Omar is going beyond her Monday apology though. It describes her as privately "huddling" with Jewish colleagues, national Jewish leaders, and local and national Jewish groups to offer a mea culpa and forge a path forward.
  • CNN notes Trump has been accused of making anti-Semitic remarks in the past, and provides some examples here.
  • Fox News notes that a number of CNN personalities (among them Don Lemon, Erin Burnett, and Chris Cuomo) also brought up Trump's past rhetoric, which Fox News sees as using the controversy around Omar "as the latest impetus to attack Trump."
(More Ilhan Omar stories.)

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