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Former DNC Chair Ed Rendell Says Anti-Hate Bill Should’ve Named Omar

(Fox News 3/8/2019)

Mike Brest Reporter
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Former DNC Chairman Ed Rendell said he believes the anti-hate resolution passed by the House on Thursday should have named Minnesota Democratic Rep. Ilhan Omar, during his appearance on Fox News’ “The Ingraham Angle.”

The resolution, which passed 407-23, was initially intended to condemn anti-Semitism, specifically in response to Omar doubling down on a statement that many considered to be anti-Semitic. The text of it, however, ended up condemning “African Americans, Latinos, Native Americans, Asian Americans and Pacific Islanders and other people of color, Jews, Muslims, Hindus, Sikhs, the LGBTQ community, immigrants, and others,” without naming Omar.

The whole debacle began last week when Omar questioned if some members of Congress have a “dual loyalty” to the United States and Israel. (RELATED: Omar Facing More Accusations Of Anti-Semitism)

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“The Democrats seem to be — I don’t know. They don’t want to name her despite the fact that’s what brought this whole thing up, obviously, initially linking Jews to money, and then talking about certain people having a divided allegiance to other countries,” Laura Ingraham started.

She then asked, “Should it have been restricted just to the anti-Semitism? A lot of Jewish Americans, at least on social that I’m reading tonight, are pretty outraged.” (RELATED: Omar’s Experiences Are ‘More Personal’ Than Children Of Holocaust Survivors)

“I think it should have focused on the anti-Semitism,” Rendell answered. “It should have said that [Rep.] Omar made a mistake. Because she did make a mistake. As an American Jew, I can tell you the thing that’s most cutting to me is when people talk about Jews, the money, the Benjamin’s, and us being sneaky people who control things by our money. That, to me, is the worst slur you can make to a Jewish person.”

He continued:

[Rep.] Omar has some good points when she talks about what’s going on in the way the Palestinians are treated, but she should make those points substantively. There is no place for name-calling in any of our affairs whether it be domestic affairs or international affairs but we should make our points and rest on the strength of our arguments. So, I would’ve liked her to be named as having made a mistake that triggered [these] thoughts of anti-Semitism, condemned anti-Semitism and then, later on, we can condemn all sorts of hate speech.

Omar released a joint statement with two other Democrats on Thursday evening. It read in part, “We are tremendously proud to be a part of a body that has put forth a condemnation of all forms of bigotry including anti-Semitism, racism, and white supremacy.”

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