Ilhan Omar Hits Meghan McCain with a Low Blow, Drags Her Dad into Discussion
Democratic Congresswoman Ilhan Omar of Minnesota jabbed John McCain’s family Thursday after conservative commentator Meghan McCain branded Omar’s rhetoric as “dangerous.”
Omar, a Muslim, has been at the center of controversy over her remarks about Israel. As reported by The Western Journal, her detractors, who include many top House Democrats, have said she has crossed the line into anti-Semitism. She and her supporters insist her comments are simply encouraging America to consider a new perspective on the U.S.-Israel relationship.
McCain, who is the daughter of the late U.S. Sen. John McCain of Arizona, waded into the controversy about Omar on Thursday as part of her comments on the ABC show “The View.”
“With the rise of anti-Semitism in this country, is it more important to defend party politics, or is it more important to defend anti-Semitism?” McCain mused, referring to a referendum drafted by House Democrats that at one time was going to focus on anti-Semitism. After objections from the progressive wing of the party, the final resolution condemns hateful speech in general.
McCain said that Omar is allowed a freedom to castigate Israel that is denied to others.
“We can have conversations all day long about how you feel about Palestinian politics, Israeli politics, how you feel about (Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin) Netanyahu. … I just present this question, which may be an uncomfortable one: If what Ilhan Omar has been saying for the past few weeks were said by a white Republican male, how would you be reacting to it right now?” she said.
During the show, McCain appeared to choke up in speaking of former Democratic Sen. Joe Lieberman, a Connecticut Independent, and his wife, Hadassah, an Orthodox Jew. She called them part of her “family.”
“And just because I don’t technically have Jewish family that are blood-related to me doesn’t mean that I don’t take this as seriously,” she said.
McCain then said that Omar’s rhetoric should alarm Jews and non-Jews alike.
“It is very dangerous, very dangerous and I think we collectively as Americans on both sides, what Ilhan Omar is saying is very scary to me. It’s very scary to a lot of people, and I don’t think you have to be Jewish to recognize that.”
Omar replied by retweeting a post from Medhi Hasan, who writes for the Intercept and is a host for Al Jazeera.
Meghan’s late father literally sang ‘bomb bomb bomb Iran’ and insisted on referring to his Vietnamese captors as ‘gooks’. He also, lest we forget, gave the world Sarah Palin.
So a little less faux outrage over a former refugee-turned-freshman-representative pls. https://t.co/zH6VZxBYc4
— Mehdi Hasan (@mehdirhasan) March 7, 2019
“Meghan’s late father literally sang ‘bomb bomb bomb Iran’ and insisted on referring to his Vietnamese captors as ‘g–ks’. He also, lest we forget, gave the world Sarah Palin. So a little less faux outrage over a former-refugee-turned-freshman-representative pls,” the post read.
McCain did not let that rest.
.@IlhanMN retweeting trash like this is beneath a sitting member of Congress, as is her blatantly anti-Semitic rhetoric. The Democratic Party looking the other way only helps Trump’s re-election efforts in 2020… https://t.co/WdSx4SqjIQ
— Meghan McCain (@MeghanMcCain) March 8, 2019
“@IlhanMN retweeting trash like this is beneath a sitting member of Congress, as is her blatantly anti-Semitic rhetoric. The Democratic Party looking the other way only helps Trump’s re-election efforts in 2020,” she tweeted.
On Twitter, posters reacted to the fuss.
Meghan McCain: If a white, Republican male said what Rep. Omar did, how would Democrats have reacted? https://t.co/NBdJfReCTg
— Just Karl (@justkarl) March 7, 2019
Meghan McCain using white crocodile tears to portray Ilhan Omar as “scary” and speak over an ethnically Jewish woman who disagrees with her is the most on-brand Christian Zionist thing ever https://t.co/qQkmWOK2OS
— Rebecca Pierce? (@aptly_engineerd) March 7, 2019
On Friday, President Donald Trump referenced the issue of Democrats’ stand on Israel by calling the Democratic party the “anti-Israel party, anti-Jewish party,” according to a White House media pool report.
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