Congress Trump calls for freshman Dem's resignation over anti-Semitic tweets

President Donald Trump called for freshman Rep. Ilhan Omar’s resignation on Tuesday amid a firestorm over recent social media posts by the Minnesota Democrat, for which she has since apologized, that many have labeled anti-Semitic.

Omar on Sunday implied that politicians pushed for policies beneficial to Israel because they are financially beholden to pro-Israel lobbying groups like AIPAC. Those suggestions, posted to Omar's Twitter account, were roundly condemned by Republicans and Democrats alike for playing into anti-Semitic tropes and stereotypes.


Trump brought up Omar’s tweets in a Cabinet meeting at the White House on Tuesday, calling Omar’s apology for the tweets “lame” and insincere, and contending that the sentiment conveyed in the Twitter posts are “deep-seated in her heart.”

“Anti-Semitism has no place in the United States Congress,” the president said.

Omar’s comments drew a rare rebuke from the leaders of her own party on Monday, with House Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-Calif.) and the rest of Democratic leadership condemning the tweets for their “use of anti-Semitic tropes and prejudicial accusations about Israel’s supporters” and called them “deeply offensive.” The freshman Democrat soon after tweeted that she “unequivocally” apologized for the remarks but insisted that she would remain firm in her opposition to the outsize role that she said lobbying money plays in Washington politics.

Omar's social media posts have also led to calls by Republicans to have Omar booted off the influential House Foreign Affairs Committee, a recommendation Trump endorsed on Tuesday.

“It’s terrible what she said, and I think she should either resign from Congress or she should certainly resign from the House Foreign Affairs Committee,” he said, later reiterating that “I think she should resign from Congress, frankly, but at a minimum she shouldn’t be on committees. Or certainly that committee.”

The freshman lawmaker said Monday that she never intended to “offend my constituents or Jewish Americans as a whole” and that “we have to always be willing to step back and think through criticism, just as I expect people to hear me when others attack me for my identity.”

Omar is one of the first Muslim women elected to Congress, and has shown support for the Palestinian-led boycott, divestment and sanctions movement against the Israeli government over its treatment of Palestinians. She has had to answer to other comments in recent weeks about Jews and Israel that have drawn bipartisan criticism, but said Monday that she is "listening and learning."