Skip To Content
JEWISH. INDEPENDENT. NONPROFIT.
Fast Forward

Mike Pence: Democrats Have Been ‘Coopted’ By Anti-Semites

WASHINGTON (JTA) — Vice President Mike Pence said that Democrats had been “co-opted” by anti-Semites during an unusually partisan speech to the American Israel Public Affairs Committee.

“How things have changed,” Pence said Monday at the lobby’s annual conference. “It’s astonishing to think that the party of Harry Truman, which did so much to create the State of Israel, has been co-opted by people” who express “rank anti-Semitic rhetoric.”

He referred specifically to Rep. Ilhan Omar, D-Minn., who last month said she felt pressured to pledge “allegiance” to Israel, prompting rebukes from Republicans and some Democrats for invoking the anti-Semitic dual loyalty.

“Anti-Semitism has no place in the Congress of United States of America,” Pence said. “At a minimum, those who slander this historic alliance between the United States and Israel should never have a seat on the Foreign Affairs Committee of the United States House of Representatives.” That earned Pence a standing ovation.

Democrats, even those who have decried her remarks, have resisted calls to remove Omar from the committee.

Pence also said that eight Democratic candidates for the presidency were boycotting the conference, but AIPAC did not invite the candidates to speak. Also, candidates have generally not made appearances at AIPAC conferences in non-election years since 2007.

A message from our CEO & publisher Rachel Fishman Feddersen

I hope you appreciated this article. Before you go, I’d like to ask you to please support the Forward’s award-winning, nonprofit journalism during this critical time.

At a time when other newsrooms are closing or cutting back, the Forward has removed its paywall and invested additional resources to report on the ground from Israel and around the U.S. on the impact of the war, rising antisemitism and polarized discourse.

Readers like you make it all possible. Support our work by becoming a Forward Member and connect with our journalism and your community.

—  Rachel Fishman Feddersen, Publisher and CEO

Join our mission to tell the Jewish story fully and fairly.

Republish This Story

Please read before republishing

We’re happy to make this story available to republish for free, unless it originated with JTA, Haaretz or another publication (as indicated on the article) and as long as you follow our guidelines. You must credit the Forward, retain our pixel and preserve our canonical link in Google search.  See our full guidelines for more information, and this guide for detail about canonical URLs.

To republish, copy the HTML by clicking on the yellow button to the right; it includes our tracking pixel, all paragraph styles and hyperlinks, the author byline and credit to the Forward. It does not include images; to avoid copyright violations, you must add them manually, following our guidelines. Please email us at [email protected], subject line “republish,” with any questions or to let us know what stories you’re picking up.

We don't support Internet Explorer

Please use Chrome, Safari, Firefox, or Edge to view this site.