Vice President Mike Pence follows up on his tweeted comment that Rep. Ilhan Omar should "face consequences" for her use of "anti-Semitic tropes" in an interview with MSNBC's Andrea Mitchell.





.@IlhanMN tweets were a disgrace & her apology was inadequate. Anti-Semitism has no place in the United States Congress, much less the Foreign Affairs Committee. Those who engage in anti-Semitic tropes should not just be denounced, they should face consequences for their words. — Vice President Mike Pence (@VP) February 13, 2019

The Vice President visited Poland on Wednesday to meet with U.S. and NATO troops stationed there ahead of the Munich Security Conference.













Great to be w/ American & Polish troops in Warsaw – including some from Indiana! These brave men & women have answered the call to put on the uniform, protect their families & our families, & to preserve freedom. We do not know what challenges lie ahead, but we will be prepared. pic.twitter.com/H0UUyFj09n — Vice President Mike Pence (@VP) February 13, 2019

ANDREA MITCHELL, MSNBC: I've got to ask you about your tweet from the plane against Congresswoman Omar. You read her out, we understand you want her to be kicked off the Foreign Affairs Committee. At the same time, Republicans were very slow to go and punish Congressman Steve King of Iowa who is historically critical of Hispanic Americans and the President's Muslim ban. Can you understand how that creates a climate of toxicity on - in all directions?



VICE PRESIDENT MIKE PENCE: Well, Representative Omar's tweets were a disgrace. Anti-Semitism has no place in the United States Congress or anywhere in our country or the free world. I think it was right for Democrat leaders to condemn those remarks but I think it's important that people that articulate anti-Semitic views are also held accountable. The Republican leadership was right to condemn Steven King's remarks and also to remove him from the committee. There were consequences to what he said, and unless Representative Omar resigns from Congress, at minimum Democrat leaders should remove her from the House Foreign Affairs Committee. I served on that committee for more than a decade Andrea, one of the things that always united that committee was strong support for our relationship with Israel and a strong condemnation of anti-Semitism. The truth is anti-Semitism is not just wrong, it's dangerous and Polish Jews during the Nazi occupation experienced that in one of the darkest chapters in human history. I'll be at the Warsaw ghetto tomorrow, my wife and I will pay our respects at Auschwitz on Friday. It's important that the leaders in the Congress take a firm stand against anti-Semitism rhetoric and I think it requires consequences in this case.



MITCHELL: And what the President said about banning all Muslims in 2015?



PENCE: Well, look the President's instituted a travel ban for the security of the United States of America. It represents extreme vetting, to ensure the people coming into our country, whatever their background and from whatever nation represent, not a threat to the people of our country. And that's been upheld all the way to the Supreme Court of the United States and we'll always put the safety and security of the American people first. Look, we embrace the broad diversity of the American people, we embrace legal immigration but the President will always put the safety and security of the American people first.