Speaker of the House Nancy Pelosi (D-CA) told reporters Wednesday that the House Foreign Affairs Committee would draft a new resolution against antisemitism, meaning that Rep. Ilhan Omar (D-MN) would be able to edit it.
Pelosi appointed Omar to the committee — Omar’s first choice — in January, despite concerns about her record of radical anti-Israel statements. She has resisted calls to remove Omar from that committee, even after Omar has repeatedly made antisemitic statements about American support for Israel.
On Wednesday, Pelosi claimed that Omar had not been “intentionally antisemitic,” even after she had been told by party leaders and her own Jewish constituents that her remarks were perceived as offensive toward Jews — and to non-Jewish supporters of Israel.
Democrats had planned to hold a vote on a resolution condemning antisemitism by Wednesday, but a party meeting collapsed into a “full-scale brawl,” according to the Washington Post, after some members objected even to a new version of the resolution that had been modified to include a condemnation of anti-Muslim bigotry as well.
Pelosi told reporters that House Democrats would still introduce a motion condemning antisemitism, but that it would be drafted by the House Foreign Affairs Committee.
New: @SpeakerPelosi said the resolution condemning anti-Semitism to be broadened to include more groups and will be drafted by the @HouseForeign. @Ilhan, who is accused of tweeting anti-Semitic comments and was veiled subject of resolution, is a member of the panel.
— Susan Ferrechio (@susanferrechio) March 6, 2019
Omar sits on that committee, and presumably would be able to write and/or edit the resolution that had been triggered by her own antisemitic statements.
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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