NPR host: Sanders ‘does not have dual citizenship’ with Israel

NPR host Diane Rehm said Thursday that she was wrong to claim that Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-Vt.) has dual citizenship with Israel.

“He does not have dual citizenship,” Rehm said on her radio program, “The Diane Rehm Show.” “I should have explained to him and you why this is a relevant question he might want to address.”

Rehm said a listener had inspired the question during her Wednesday interview with Sanders, a 2016 Democratic presidential candidate.

{mosads}“One of our listeners suggested via Facebook that I ask Sen. Sanders about Internet speculation that he has dual citizenship with Israel,” she said.

“Instead of asking it as a question, I stated it as a fact. That was wrong. However, I am glad to play a role in putting this rumor to rest,” she added.

Rehm has faced criticism after her interview with Sanders.

“Senator, you have dual citizenship with Israel,” she said during the Wednesday broadcast.

Sanders repeatedly denied it in an awkward exchange.

“Well, no, I do not have dual citizenship with Israel,” Sanders responded, adding that the question “offended” him.

“I’m an American,” he said. “I don’t know where that question came from.

“I am an American citizen, and I have visited Israel on a couple of occasions,” Sanders added. “No, I’m an American citizen, period.

“That’s some of the nonsense that goes on in the Internet,” he later said. “But that is absolutely not true.”

Rehm apologized Wednesday afternoon, saying she had picked up the claim from a Facebook post.

Sanders praised Rehm on Thursday despite the mistake.

“I like Diane Rehm; she’s a good radio interviewer,” Sanders said at a Christian Science Monitor breakfast with reporters.

“I don’t know where she got it,” he added about her question. “I suspect that her staff gave her a list of questions, and she messed up.”

The National Jewish Democratic Council (NJDC) criticized Rehm on Wednesday, saying she had asked Sanders an “indefensible” question.

“It is appalling that in today’s age, a longtime Jewish elected official would face implications that he splits his loyalties between the United States and Israel for no other reason that his religion,” said Greg Rosenbaum, chair of the NJDC’s Board of Directors.

“This anti-Semitic canard of dual loyalty has persisted for decades, particularly about American Jews in public service,” he added.

“To directly ask, as Diane Rehm did, if there are members of Congress who hold dual citizenship with Israel is unbelievably offensive and completely indefensible.”