Trump blasts Democrats amid tensions over Omar

President Trump on Wednesday blasted House Democrats after members balked at officially rebuking Rep. Ilhan Omar (D-Minn.) over her criticism of Israel that has been widely condemned as anti-Semitic.

It is shameful that House Democrats won’t take a stronger stand against Anti-Semitism in their conference. Anti-Semitism has fueled atrocities throughout history and it’s inconceivable they will not act to condemn it!

— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) March 6, 2019

Democrats earlier Wednesday held a heated internal meeting in which they debated whether to single out Omar, one of the first Muslim women elected to Congress, by passing a resolution condemning anti-Semitism.

{mosads}The freshman lawmaker again found herself in hot water after she said pro-Israel groups are pushing for “allegiance to a foreign country,” a remark that echoed charges of dual loyalty that have been used against Jews for centuries.

Omar’s latest comments came weeks after she became embroiled in controversy over a string of tweets in which she suggested that politicians who back Israel do so only because they receive money from pro-Israel groups.

Top Democrats have criticized Omar for repeating “anti-Semitic tropes,” but some rank-and-file and progressive members expressed frustration Wednesday that the focus on her comments has allowed Republicans to stoke divisions among Democrats.

Trump has repeatedly faced widespread backlash for his own remarks about white nationalist groups and Jews.

“Guy who says there were ‘good people on both sides’ of a Nazi march weighs in. And, as usual, lies,” Rep. Jim Himes (D-Conn.) said in response to Trump’s tweet.

Guy who says there were “good people on both sides” of a Nazi march weighs in. And, as usual, lies…. https://t.co/CHtdJS7Tes

— Jim Himes (@jahimes) March 6, 2019

In August 2017, Trump argued there was blame on “both sides” of a rally in Charlottesville, Va., where a woman was killed when a white supremacist rammed his car into a crowd of counterprotesters.

“You had some very bad people in that group, but you also had people that were very fine people on both sides,” Trump said at the time.

White nationalist marchers at the Unite the Right rally carried Nazi banners and chanted “Jews will not replace us” before the violence erupted.  

During the 2016 campaign, Trump tweeted out an image of his Democratic opponent, Hillary Clinton, with the phrase “Most Corrupt Candidate Ever” inside a Star of David on top of piles of cash.

Trump also drew accusations of invoking Jewish stereotypes in 2015, when he called an audience of Republican Jewish Committee members “negotiators” and speculated they would not support him because he did not want to accept their donations.

“You’re not going to support me because I don’t want your money,” he said. “That’s why you don’t want to give me money, OK? But that’s OK. You want to control your own politician.”

That hasn’t stopped Trump from going after Omar. He tweeted Monday that the freshman lawmaker’s “terrible” comments were a “dark day for Israel!”

Representative Ilhan Omar is again under fire for her terrible comments concerning Israel. Jewish groups have just sent a petition to Speaker Pelosi asking her to remove Omar from Foreign Relations Committee. A dark day for Israel!

— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) March 5, 2019

Trump said last month that Omar should resign from Congress or be forced off her committees in response to her comments about money from pro-Israel groups.

Updated at 3:55 p.m.