US President Donald Trump on Friday blasted Democrats and accused them of becoming an “anti-Israel” and “anti-Jewish” party, after the House of Representatives passed a broad resolution that called out bigotry of all kinds without directly condemning Rep. Ilhan Omar (D-MN) over her anti-Semitic remarks.
Speaking from the White House lawn before departing for Alabama, the president called Thursday’s House vote a “disgrace.”
“Democrats have become an anti-Israel party. They’ve become an anti-Jewish party,” Trump said, according to Fox News. “I think the vote was a disgrace.”
Trump added that most lawmakers would agree that the resolution, which did not mention Omar name, was a disgrace “if you get an honest answer.”
The final vote on the resolution was 407 to 23—with 23 Republicans voting no, and all Democrats, including Omar, voting yes.
The resolution originally condemned anti-Semitism but was rewritten and its final draft was expanded Thursday afternoon to condemn all forms of bigotry, including white supremacy. Republicans characterized the watering down of the resolution as a ploy to distract from Omar’s remarks which had prompted the resolution in the first place.
Omar recently came under fire after she suggested on Twitter that Republicans were attacking her at the behest of the pro-Israel lobby AIPAC.
She subsequently issued a half-hearted apology before ultimately deleting the controversial tweets.
This week she caused another uproar when, at a public event, she appeared to refer to domestic support for Israel as “allegiance to a foreign country”.
Omar had previously tweeted in 2012 that “Israel hypnotized the world, may Allah awaken the people and help them see the evil doings of Israel.” Omar subsequently apologized for her comments and deleted the tweet.
"Anti-Semitism is real and I am grateful for Jewish allies and colleagues who are educating me on the painful history of anti-Semitic tropes,” she said.
(Arutz Sheva’s North American desk is keeping you updated until the start of Shabbat in New York. The time posted automatically on all Arutz Sheva articles, however, is Israeli time.)