by Henry Rodgers
House Speaker Nancy Pelosi says the Democratic Party does not have a “taint” of anti-Semitism within the party, adding that President Donald Trump is wrong to make such accusations.
“We have no taint of that in the Democratic Party, and just because they want to accuse somebody of that doesn’t mean … that we take that bait,” Pelosi said Tuesday an interview with CNN in Dublin, Ireland.
Pelosi’s comments come as Minnesota Democratic Rep. Ilhan Omar is under fire for reportedly making multiple anti-Semitic comments. Omar also recently described the 9/11 terror attacks as “Some People Did Something.” Pelosi said she still hasn’t spoken to Omar about the comment.
“I haven’t had a chance to speak with her. I’m traveling, she’s traveling. But we couldn’t catch up with her. Until I talk to somebody, I don’t even know what was said,” Pelosi said. “But I do know what the President did was not right.”
Omar has also received criticism for a tweet she sent in 2012 that stated “Israel has hypnotized the world.” Omar said in January she was unaware of the anti-Semitic connotations associated with the word “hypnotized” in relation to Jewish people. She was also accused of anti-Semitic behavior by New York GOP Rep. Lee Zeldin after he received multiple voicemails on his office phone calling him offensive names.
The freshman Democratic congresswoman has also said she “almost chuckle[s]” when Israel is labeled as a “democracy,” during an interview with Yahoo News in late January.
Assistant House Speaker Ben Ray Luján criticized Omar for her statements about the terror attacks on 9/11 in a Thursday interview.
– – –
Henry Rodgers is a reporter for the Daily Caller News Foundation. Follow Henry on Twitter.
Photo “Nancy Pelosi” by Nancy Pelosi. Photo “Ilhan Omar” by Ilhan Omar.
