House Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-Calif.) defended Rep. Ilhan Omar (D-Minn.) from charges that she intended to make anti-Semitic remarks, and claimed that the anti-hate resolution in the House of Representatives was not about Omar.

Pelosi made the statements to the media on Thursday, just ahead of the vote for the resolution.

"I don't think that um, the congresswoman perhaps appreciated the full weight of how it was heard by other people, although I don't believe it was intended in an anti-Semitic way," she explained.

"But the fact is if that's how it was interpreted, we have to remove all doubt, as we have done over and over again."

Pelosi said she spoke to Omar about the anti-Semitic comments she made and how the Democrats were going to vote on a resolution against anti-Semitism and other forms of hatred.

"Something that is one resolution, addressing these forms of hatred, not mentioning her name because it's not about her," she explained. "It's about these forms of hatred."

Pelosi would not say whether Omar should apologize, and said it was up to her.

"I do not believe she understood the full weight of her words," she added.



"When you cross that threshold into Congress," she continued, "your words weigh much more than when you're shouting at somebody outside, and I feel confident that her words were not based on any anti-Semitic attitude, but that she didn't have a full appreciation of how they landed on other people where these words have a history and a cultural impact that may have been unknown to her."

Here's the video of Pelosi's comments:

Word for Word: Speaker Pelosi comments on anti-Semitism resolution (C-SPAN) www.youtube.com

The resolution was passed overwhelmingly on Thursday with a vote of 407 to 23.