Rookie Democratic Rep. Ilhan
Omar, fresh off igniting an intra-party uproar with comments widely viewed
as anti-Semitic, took a swipe at former President Barack Obama, saying in an explosive interview
the 44th president's message of "hope and change" was a
"mirage" and blasting his administration's drone and border
detention policies.
Omar, D-Minn., took aim at the president's famed slogan,
while further criticizing the Democratic Party for “perpetuating the status quo,” in
the interview with Politico.
“Recalling the ‘caging of kids’ at the U.S.-Mexico border
and the ‘droning of countries around the world’ on Obama’s watch,"
Omar charged that Obama "operated within the same fundamentally
broken framework as his Republican successor,” the piece reads.
Omar is then quoted as saying: “We can’t be only upset
with Trump… His policies are bad, but many of the people who
came before him also had really bad policies. They just were more polished than
he was.
“And that’s not what we should be looking for anymore. We
don’t want anybody to get away with murder because they are polished. We want
to recognize the actual policies that are behind the pretty face and the
smile.”
The comments came after the passage Thursday of a broad
anti-bigotry resolution prompted by Omar's prior comments about Israel. The
resolution and the drama surrounding its passage exposed chasms in the
Democratic caucus regarding Israel and marked a coup of sorts for a tight-knit band of House freshmen
who – in a matter of hours – were able to shift the spotlight away from Omar’s
allegedly anti-Semitic remarks and refocus on issues like Islamophobia and
pro-Israel lobby AIPAC.
“The week was supposed to start off with a rebuke of Omar's
anti-Semitic comments and it ended up turning into a long list of other hateful
actions,” House Republican Whip Steve Scalise, R-La., told Fox News on Friday,
saying the final product “fell short of addressing the real problem.”
But the broadside delivered at Obama is highly unusual
for any Democrat, especially one who has been in the House for two months and
has already ticked off party elders with her outspokenness.
The House resolution, following a week of Democratic
infighting over the language, was approved on a 407-23 vote. The measure
originally was drafted in response to Omar, a freshman Democrat from Minnesota,
suggesting last week that Israel supporters want U.S. lawmakers to pledge
“allegiance” to the Jewish state – which was widely condemned as echoing the
age-old “dual loyalties” smear against Jewish politicians.
Yet after Speaker Nancy Pelosi faced a rebellion in the
ranks amid concerns the resolution would unfairly single out Omar, a Muslim,
and increase security threats against her (she was recently the subject of an
inflammatory poster at the West Virginia capitol falsely tying her to the 9/11
attacks), the resolution was overhauled.
The result was a broad rebuke of bigotry, including
anti-Semitism as well as “anti-Muslim discrimination and bigotry against
minorities” perpetrated by white supremacists and others. The resolution
condemned “dual loyalty” accusations, but did not mention Omar by name.
The fight exposed deep divisions in the party. But on the
2020 campaign trail, heavyweights came to Omar's side. Vermont independent Sen.
Bernie Sanders, who was raised Jewish, defended Omar, arguing that “we must not, however, equate
anti-Semitism with legitimate criticism of the right-wing, Netanyahu government
in Israel.
“What I fear is going on in the House now is an effort to
target Congresswoman Omar as a way of stifling that debate," the senator
added. “That's wrong.”
Sen. Elizabeth
Warren of Massachusetts also slammed anti-Semitism but defended Omar.
“Branding criticism of Israel as automatically
anti-Semitic has a chilling effect on our public discourse and makes it harder
to achieve a peaceful solution between Israelis and Palestinians,” she wrote in
a statement obtained by Fox News.
Many Democrats, while strong supporters of Israel, have
concerns with the country’s long-time prime minister, Benjamin Netanyahu, and
his government’s treatment of Palestinians.
There was a similar response from Sen. Kamala Harris of
California, who called out all instances of bigotry and worried about possible
violence directed at Omar.
“You can both support Israel and be loyal to our
country,” she said. “I also believe there is a difference between criticism of
policy or political leaders, and anti-Semitism."
Harris spotlighted that “like some of my colleagues in
the Congressional Black Caucus, I am concerned that the spotlight being put on
Congresswoman Omar may put her at risk.”
Meanwhile, Sen. Kirsten Gillibrand, D-N.Y., was more
critical of Omar in response to the controversy, while also accusing the GOP of
"hypocrisy."
Fox News contacted President Obama’s office for comment.
Fox News' Judson Berger contributed to this
report.
______________________
RELATED
ARTICLE
Ilhan Omar claims her Obama comments were
distorted, then posts audio confirming controversial remarks
Rep. Ilhan
Omar’s attempt to shame a news outlet for misquoting her blistering
attack on former President
Barack Obama backfired after she released audio of the interview that
only served to confirm her remarks.
The Minnesota Democrat, who’s faced controversy
over comments perceived as anti-Semitic, got into hot water
yet again after saying Obama’s “hope and change” message was a “mirage” and
slammed the administration’s drone and border-detention policies.
She told Politico that the Obama administration was responsible
for the “caging of kids” at the U.S.-Mexico border, the “droning of countries
around the world,” and that the 44th president “operated within the same
fundamentally broken framework as his Republican successor."
“We can’t be only upset with Trump. … His policies are
bad, but many of the people who came before him also had really bad policies.
They just were more polished than he was,” Omar is quoted as saying in the
article. “And that’s not what we should be looking for anymore. We don’t want
anybody to get away with murder because they are polished. We want to recognize
the actual policies that are behind the pretty face and the smile.”
“We
can’t be only upset with Trump. … His policies are bad, but many of the people
who came before him also had really bad policies. They just were more polished
than he was.”
—
Ilhan Omar
Following the article's publication, Omar went on offense
on Twitter and accused the outlet’s reporter, Tim Alberta, of distorting her
words and insisted that she is, in fact, a fan of Obama.
“Exhibit A of how reporters distort words. I’m an Obama
fan! I was saying how Trump is different from Obama, and why we should focus on
policy not politics. This is why I always tape my interviews,” she tweeted,
attaching an audio recording of the interview.
— Ilhan Omar
But the move immediately backfired as the recording
actually confirmed the comments she made to the news outlet.
“I think for many of us, we think of ourselves as
Democrats. But many of the ways that our Democratic leaders have conducted
themselves within the system is not one that we are all proud of,” she said in
the recording.
“You know, I will talk about the family separation or
caging of kids and then people will point out that this was wrong – I mean this
was Obama. And you know I'll say something about the droning of countries
around the world and people will say that was Obama. And all of that is very
true. What is happening now is very different. A lot is happening with secrecy.
It's happening with the feel-good polished way of talking about it.
“And when we talk about waking people up from
complacency, it's to say that we can't be only upset with Trump because he's
not a politician who sells us his policies in the most perfect way. His
policies are bad, but many of the people who came before him also had really
bad policies. They just were more polished than he was,” she continued.
“And that's not what we should be looking for anymore. We
don't want anybody to get away with murder because they are polished. We want
to recognize the actual policies that are behind the pretty face and the smile,
so that we can understand the kind of negative impact, or positive impact, they
will have on us for generations.”
Omar’s attempt at shaming a media outlet was called out
by the reporter who said the rookie congresswoman tried to bash the media in an
effort to avoid the comments she made.
“Exhibit A of how politicians use the media as a straw
man to avoid owning what they said. Your tape...supports what I wrote 100%. So
does my longer tape. It's beyond dispute,” tweeted back the reporter at Omar.
“Next time, a phone call from your office before the Twitter ambush would be
appreciated.”
The latest controversy came just a day after Omar’s
comments suggesting that Israel supporters want U.S. lawmakers to pledge
“allegiance” to the Jewish state – which was widely condemned as echoing the
age-old “dual loyalties” smear against Jewish politicians – were condemned in a
broad anti-bigotry resolution passed by the House.
Omar’s anti-Obama comments are likely to further split
the Democratic Caucus, which is still reeling from an intra-party fight that erupted in the
wake of the anti-bigotry resolution’s wording, as Obama remains extremely
popular within the party.
Progressive Democrats such as Rep. Alexandria
Ocasio-Cortez and 2020 Democratic presidential candidates like Sens. Bernie
Sanders and Elizabeth Warren have defended Omar’s earlier comments.
Fox News’ Liam Quinn contributed to this
report.
Lukas
Mikelionis is a reporter for FoxNews.com. Follow him on Twitter @LukasMikelionis.
