Omar jumps to defense of fellow Democrat following backlash
Rep. Ilhan Omar, D-Minn has jumped to the defense of Rep. Rashida Tlaib, D-Mich over recent the backlash following her remarks about the Holocaust, asserting that the criticism is “designed” to “silence” Muslim voices.
Omar said in an interview on MSNBC that both her and Tlaib, who she referred to as her sister, have the “strength to endure any of the mischaracterization or efforts to distort and vilify and mischaracterize” their message.
“I think we are seeing what happens when people really see these kind of attacks for what they are. It is designed to silence, sideline, and sort of almost eliminate [the] public voice of Muslims from the public discourse,” Omar told Chris Hayes of MSNBC
“I’m really excited that we have an opportunity to build alliances and push back and fight this attempt to marginalize our community’s voice.”
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Earlier this month, Tlaib has said that she gets a “calming feeling” when thinking about the Holocaust.
The lawmaker’s statement came during an interview where she attributed the emotions to a false claim that her Palestinian ancestors provided a “safe haven” for Jewish victims of the tragedy.
Republicans condemned Tlaib’s comments and accused her revisionist history by claiming Palestinians welcomed Jews to the Middle East after World War II when it was Palestinian leader Grand Mufti Haj Amin el Husseini was an ally of Adolf Hitler.
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But when Omar was asked what she had learned from her remarks, shes avoided the question and instead pointed to the “threat” that Muslim and Jewish communities face from “people on the right wing who are fueling that hate.”
“It is time for us to make sure that we don’t allow for them to use any misunderstanding there might be to divide us [and] that we collectively work together against the collective hate that is coming from the right wing and white supremacy,” Omar continued.
House Speaker Nancy Pelosi also defended Tlaib and demanded that Presdient Donald Trump and other Republicans apologize for reacting to Rep. Rashida Tlaib’s comments.
Democratic Party leaders are again refusing to condemn anti-Semitism from radical lawmakers.