Chelsea Clinton Joins Forward Editor In Calling Out Omar’s Anti-Semitic Tweet
Democratic congressional candidate the Midterm elections, Ilhan Omar, speaks to a group of supporters at University of Minnesota in Minneapolis, Minnesota, on November 2, 2018. Image by Getty Images
In a tweet to Forward Opinion editor Batya Ungar-Sargon, Representative Ilhan Omar expressed that she believes AIPAC paid politicians to be pro-Israel.
The statement, which is false because AIPAC doesn’t make political donations, led several notable figures to join Ungar-Sargon in condemning the Minnesota Democrat for drawing on the anti-Semitic trope of bribery.
The Twitterstorm began on Sunday when Omar responded to California representative Kevin McCarthy’s call to have her punished for previous statements against Israel. “It’s all about the Benjamins baby,” she tweeted, referring to the $100 bill.
Ungar-Sargon tweeted to her, asking who the freshman congresswoman thought was paying off politicians.
“AIPAC!” Omar wrote.
AIPAC! https://t.co/UdzaFUEfrh
— Ilhan Omar (@IlhanMN) February 11, 2019
Please learn how to talk about Jews in a non-anti-Semitic way. Sincerely, American Jews. https://t.co/qo3BU2Pqgn
— Batya Ungar-Sargon (@bungarsargon) February 11, 2019
It caught the attention of figures such as Chelsea Clinton and House Speaker Nancy Pelosi, who spoke out against anti-Semitism.
Co-signed as an American. We should expect all elected officials, regardless of party, and all public figures to not traffic in anti-Semitism.
— Chelsea Clinton (@ChelseaClinton) February 11, 2019
In our conversation today, Congresswoman Omar and I agreed that we must use this moment to move forward as we reject anti-Semitism in all forms. https://t.co/UpZA3DNgQs pic.twitter.com/1Z6rH65e3M
— Nancy Pelosi (@SpeakerPelosi) February 11, 2019
The controversy comes less than a month since Omar apologized for a past anti-Semitic tweet, in which she wrote “Israel has hypnotized the world” during the war with Gaza.
Alyssa Fisher is a news writer at the Forward. Email her at fisher@forward.com, or follow her on Twitter at @alyssalfisher
I hope you appreciated this article. Before you go, I’d like to ask you to please support the Forward’s award-winning journalism this Passover.
In this age of misinformation, our work is needed like never before. We report on the news that matters most to American Jews, driven by truth, not ideology.
At a time when newsrooms are closing or cutting back, the Forward has removed its paywall. That means for the first time in our 126-year history, Forward journalism is free to everyone, everywhere. With an ongoing war, rising antisemitism, and a flood of disinformation that may affect the upcoming election, we believe that free and open access to Jewish journalism is imperative.
Readers like you make it all possible. Right now, we’re in the middle of our Passover Pledge Drive and we still need 300 people to step up and make a gift to sustain our trustworthy, independent journalism.
Make a gift of any size and become a Forward member today. You’ll support our mission to tell the American Jewish story fully and fairly.
— Rachel Fishman Feddersen, Publisher and CEO
Join our mission to tell the Jewish story fully and fairly.
Only 300 more gifts needed by April 30
