Biden Nominee Once Slammed Ilhan Omar for Using 'Anti-Semitic Tropes' and Compared Trump to a Nazi
President Joe Biden’s nominee to serve as a U.S. special envoy on anti-Semitism has a recording of criticizing Minnesota Democratic Rep. Ilhan Omar’s anti-Semitic remarks, as well as comparing former President Donald Trump to a Nazi.
Deborah Lipstadt, a professor of modern Jewish history and Holocaust studies at Emory University, was nominated on Friday.
The same day, The Washington Free Beacon reported, “In 2019, Lipstadt told Jewish Insider that Omar’s depiction of pro-Israel Americans as having ‘allegiance to a foreign country’ is a clear example of anti-Semitism.”
“Omar may think she is only criticizing Israel and its policies but one cannot ignore the fact that she is relying on traditional anti-Semitic tropes to do so,” Lipstadt said in the Jewish Insider interview.
“What it suggests to me is that, at best, these people exist in a place where anti-Semitism is out in the ethosphere; they hear it, breath it in, and don’t even recognize it as anti-Semitism.”
The New York Post reported, “Lipstadt once called President Trump — a father and grandfather to Orthodox Jews — an ‘anti-Semitic enabler’ and compared him to a Nazi.”
Her nomination has already sparked outrage from the Zionist Organization of America, according to the report.
ZOA’s president Morton A. Klein issued a statement opposing her nomination. The statement argued Lipstadt should not be confirmed due to her comments about Trump, accusing her of “displaying partisan left wing bias.”
“Lipstadt’s abuse of false Nazi and antisemitism charges against those with whom she disagrees politically should disqualify her from serving as the U.S. Combating Antisemitism Envoy,” Klein said in the statement.
“Lipstadt’s primary focus is antisemitism on the right (both real and imagined), at a time when the major threat is Islamist and far-left antisemitism. We are concerned that Lipstadt will ignore and/or give far too little attention to antisemitism from groups such as the Black Lives Matter organization, and leftist and Islamist BDS groups and Israel-bashing NGOs,” he added.
Lipstadt’s nomination will need Senate confirmation before her new role is official.
Despite the dust-up that has flared since she was named as nominee, she is expected to receive strong bipartisan support as a leading scholar on anti-Semitism, according to the Free Beacon.
House Minority Leader Kevin McCarthy has previously expressed his concerns with Omar. In a June interview with “Fox & Friends,” he said he will seek to remove Omar from her House Foreign Affairs Committee assignment if Republicans regain control of the House after the midterm elections.
He said, “I will promise you this: If we are fortunate enough to have the majority, Omar would not be serving on Foreign Affairs, or anybody that has an anti-Semitic, anti-American view.”
House Minority Leader Kevin McCarthy goes after Rep. Ilhan Omar (D-MN):
“I will promise you this: If we are fortunate enough to have the majority, Omar would not be serving on Foreign Affairs [Committee] or anybody that has an anti-semitic, anti-American view.” pic.twitter.com/aLUGsJfW2t
— The Recount (@therecount) June 15, 2021
House Republicans have previously pushed a resolution to censure Omar and her fellow “squad” members over comments equating Israel with the terrorist organization Hamas.
The resolution stated that Omar and Democratic Reps. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez of New York, Ayanna Pressley of Massachusetts and Rashida Tlaib of Michigan have made accusations that “publicly support the actions of a recognized terrorist organization.”
The resolution accused the four Democrats of “defending foreign terrorist organizations and perpetuating a narrative that has incited anti-Semitic attacks across the United States.”
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