Rep. Ilhan Omar’s (D-MN) tweets tonight saying AIPAC pays off Republican politicians (“It’s all about the Benjamins”) was so bad even Chelsea Clinton called her out for it:
Please learn how to talk about Jews in a non-anti-Semitic way. Sincerely, American Jews. https://t.co/qo3BU2Pqgn
— Batya Ungar-Sargon (@bungarsargon) February 11, 2019
Co-signed as an American. We should expect all elected officials, regardless of party, and all public figures to not traffic in anti-Semitism.
— Chelsea Clinton (@ChelseaClinton) February 11, 2019
And there goes “conservatives pounce”:
Well, the media can't use "Conservatives Pounce" this time ? https://t.co/kjbbrD7Lfk
— Jon Nicosia (@NewsPolitics) February 11, 2019
And actually, it was liberals who pounced on Chelsea:
Hi can I chime in as a Jew? Thanks. The American right is working furiously to distract from its LITERAL ALLIANCE WITH NAZIS. If @IlhanMN's language was imprecise, it's on us to have her back in the face of bad-faith and/or twitter-cop attempts to smear her as a Jew-hater. https://t.co/otFu6O36rS
— Eli Valley (@elivalley) February 11, 2019
I’m rather familiar with bad-faith attacks. Of course I worry more about the rise in far right bigoted violence – https://t.co/0uId5DVQYS. I also worry about the mainstreaming of anti-Semitic tropes & language.
— Chelsea Clinton (@ChelseaClinton) February 11, 2019
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And this is from Melissa Byrne who was on the Bernie 2016 campaign team:
Disappointed @ChelseaClinton is pilling on @IlhanMN instead of reaching out to her. She is a new MoC and figuring out how to navigate calling out AIPAC ( which is a terrible organization aligned with Bibi) and learning that a lot of folks will assume the worst. https://t.co/eZMy2jyY7y
— melissa byrne (@mcbyrne) February 11, 2019
Hi Melissa – I will reach out to her tomorrow. I also think we have to call out anti-Semitic language and tropes on all sides, particularly in our elected officials and particularly now.
— Chelsea Clinton (@ChelseaClinton) February 11, 2019
Update: Rep. Omar seems to be under the impression that this will be a one-side conversation:
?? Chelsea – I would be happy to talk. We must call out smears from the GOP and their allies. And I believe we can do that without criticizing people for their faith.
I look forward to building an inclusive movement for justice with you. ?? https://t.co/EGA9NQfBCi
— Ilhan Omar (@IlhanMN) February 11, 2019
But Chelsea is not backing down so fast, despite the cordiality between the two:
Hi Ashley – I am looking forward to talking to the Congresswoman about the cancer of anti-Semitism in our country and why her comments trouble me and more.
— Chelsea Clinton (@ChelseaClinton) February 11, 2019
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Related:
UPDATES: 1. Rep. Ilhan Omar says she was talking about AIPAC; 2. She accidentally retweeted a user who said her tweet, "…might as well call us hook-nosed" (corrected) https://t.co/n0oDbpeN9J
— Twitchy Team (@TwitchyTeam) February 11, 2019
So, what exactly did Rep. Ilhan Omar mean when she tweeted, 'It's all about the Benjamins baby' in this response re. Israel? https://t.co/n0oDbpeN9J
— Twitchy Team (@TwitchyTeam) February 11, 2019
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