Democrat Rep. Dean Phillips (MN) backtracked on his stance criticizing Rep. Ilhan Omar (D-MN) for her remarks made last week comparing the United States and Israel to terrorists.
Phillips originally was one of a dozen Jewish Democrat Hosue members who called out Omar for her remarks “equating the United States and Israel to Hamas and the Taliban as offensive as it is misguided.”
They said, “Ignoring the differences between democracies governed by the rule of law and contemptible organizations that engage in terrorism at best discredits one’s intended argument and at worst reflects deep-seated prejudice.”
Now, Phillips has reversed course. Since calling the Congresswoman out, Phillips told one of CNN’s congressional reporters, Manu Raju, he would not support any effort to remove Omar from her seat on the House Foreign Affairs Committee. House Minority Leader Kevin McCarthy (R-CA) will reportedly be forcing a vote to remove Omar from the committee.
Phillips said, “Considering their unwillingness to address hate within the GOP, any effort by Kevin McCarthy and Tom Emmer to weaponize anti-semitism for political gain is dangerous, hypocritical, and will fail.”
“Dean Phillips is all talk and no action,” said Mike Berg, a National Republican Congressional Committee spokesman.
Berg added, “If Phillips truly cared about Omar’s disgusting decision to compare the United States to terrorist organizations, he would support efforts to remove Omar from her seat on the House Foreign Affairs Committee.”
Breitbart News previously reported Omar made remarks during a hearing she attended virtually to question Secretary of State Antony Blinken. The tweet in which Omar attached a video of her remarks said, “We must have the same level of accountability and justice for all victims of crimes against humanity.”
The tweet continued, “We have seen unthinkable atrocities committed by the U.S., Hamas, Israel, Afghanistan, and the Taliban.”
Watch:
We must have the same level of accountability and justice for all victims of crimes against humanity.
We have seen unthinkable atrocities committed by the U.S., Hamas, Israel, Afghanistan, and the Taliban.
I asked @SecBlinken where people are supposed to go for justice. pic.twitter.com/tUtxW5cIow
— Rep. Ilhan Omar (@Ilhan) June 7, 2021
After originally being called out by the coalition of Jewish House Democrats, Omar released a statement to try and clean up her political mess.
She said, “On Monday, I asked Secretary of State Antony Blinken about an ongoing International Criminal Court Investigation.”
Omar wanted to further clarify by adding, “the conversation, was about accountability for specific incidents regarding those ICC cases, not a moral comparison between Hamas and the Taliban and the U.S. and Israel.
The Congresswoman wanted to further state that she “was in no way equating terrorist organizations with democratic countries with well-established judicial systems.”
COMMENTS
Please let us know if you're having issues with commenting.