Rep. Liz Cheney accuses Democrats of 'enabling' anti-Semitism by not punishing Rep. Ilhan Omar for tweet
- Republican Rep. Liz Cheney said Democrats in Congress were "enabling" anti-Semitism with a recent vote that didn't specifically condemn recent comments from Minnesota Democrat Rep. Ilhan Omar.
- The Wisconsin lawmaker said on NBC's "Meet the Press" that the resolution passed in the House that broadly condemned all forms of hate was an effort to "protect" Omar.
- Top Democrats were among the lawmakers who immediately pushed back against Omar's tweet that accused pro-Israel lawmakers of pushing "for allegiance to a foreign country."
- Other Republican lawmakers have defended their votes against the resolution, saying that though they condemn all forms of hate, the resolution was irrelevant because it doesn't specifically name Omar's comments.
Republican Rep. Liz Cheney slammed Democrats in Congress for a recent congressional vote that she said "enabled" anti-Semitism when lawmakers didn't specifically condemn recent comments from Minnesota Democrat Rep. Ilhan Omar.
The Wisconsin lawmaker said on NBC's "Meet the Press" that the resolution passed by the House of Representatives that broadly condemns all forms of bigotry, "was really clearly an effort to actually protect Ilhan Omar, to cover up her bigotry and anti-Semitism by refusing to name her."
After freshman Rep. Omar accused pro-Israel lawmakers of pushing "for allegiance to a foreign country" in a tweet, several prominent Democrats pushed back against Omar, pointing out she appeared to be playing into decades-old anti-Semitic stereotypes about American Jews' "dual loyalty" to Israel.
Despite statements from multiple lawmakers rejecting Omar's statement, the representative wasn't named in the House resolution.
"It is absolutely shameful that Nancy Pelosi and Leader Hoyer and the Democratic leaders will not put her name in a resolution on the floor and condemn her remarks and remove her from the House Foreign Affairs Committee," Cheney said. "Those people who won't condemn it are enabling it."
Cheney, who in part lead the charge in hammering Iowa Republican Rep. Steve King over his comments supporting nationalism, was among 22 other Republicans who voted against the resolution, all of whom said that while they supported combatting hate, the resolution was ultimately irrelevant because it ignored Omar's comments.
Republicans openly mocked the all-encompassing resolution, particularly after a last-minute addition of a clause condemning white supremacists continuing "to exploit bigotry and weaponize hate for political gain."
In a radio interview aired hours earlier, New York Republican Rep. Lee Zeldin similarly defended his vote against the resolution and criticized Democrats who wouldn't specifically condemn Omar.
"Instead of a resolution naming names and being singularly, emphatically, unequivocally condemning anti-Semitism ... you had a resolution that kept getting diluted and watered down, filled with moral equivalency, which is dangerous," Zeldin said.
Democrats have defended the resolution by pointing to other instances of hate that carry more violent sentiments, including a poster found in the West Virginia Capitol that suggested a link between Omar and the 9/11 attacks.
When host Chuck Todd asked Cheney if President Donald Trump has done enough to combat all forms of hate and anti-Semitism, she shrugged off a straight answer, saying she didn't "believe this is right or left" and "I think this is an issue where all of us should come together."
"We know what happens when people remain silent, every single one of us at all times must stand against it," she said.