Omar apologizes after Dem leaders blast tweets as 'anti-Semitic'
By Cristina Marcos - 02/11/19 02:59 PM EST
Freshman Rep. Ilhan Omar (D-Minn.) apologized on Monday for tweets suggesting that American lawmakers were motivated by money to defend Israel.
Omar's apology came after she spoke with Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-Calif.), who along with other House Democratic leaders called on her to apologize for the "use of anti-Semitic tropes" about Jewish people and money.
"Anti-Semitism is real and I am grateful for Jewish allies and colleagues who are educating me on the painful history of anti-Semitic tropes," Omar, one of the first two Muslim women elected to Congress, said in a statement. "My intention is never to offend my constituents or Jewish Americans as a whole. 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. This is why I unequivocally apologize."
But Omar stood by her criticism of the American Israeli Public Affairs Committee's (AIPAC) special interest influence.
more
https://thehill.com/homenews/house/429461-omar-apologizes-after-dem-leaders-blast-tweets-as-anti-semitic