On Tuesday, Sen. Marsha Blackburn (R-TN) and Rep. Ilhan Omar (D-MN) traded barbs over the protests that have sprouted up at U.S. colleges in response to the Israel-Hamas war in Gaza.
The exchange began with Omar, a member of the leftist “Squad,” sharing on X a screen grab of a post from Blackburn using her congressional X account to talk about implementing penalties for students fostering terrorism while advancing the Hamas cause.
“Any student who has promoted terrorism or engaged in terrorists [sic] acts on behalf of Hamas should be immediately … added to the terrorist watch list and placed on the TSA No Fly List,” Blackburn said.
In her own post, Omar said, “A sitting Senator, labels Americans protesting against a foreign country accused of carrying out a genocide funded with our tax dollars as terrorists and puts a target on their back to be attacked. This is insanely dangerous and somehow no one will condemn it.”
A sitting Senator, labels Americans protesting against a foreign country accused of carrying out a genocide funded with our tax dollars as terrorists and puts a target on their back to be attacked. This is insanely dangerous and somehow no one will condemn it. pic.twitter.com/TWKiUpDqZx
— Ilhan Omar (@IlhanMN) April 30, 2024
Blackburn, using her campaign X account, fired back with references to Omar recently suggesting that some Jewish students at American universities support genocide.
“You falsely think some Jewish students are ‘pro-genocide.’ I think most Jews believe you’re anti-Semitic,” Blackburn said in one post.
You falsely think some Jewish students are “pro-genocide.”
I think most Jews believe you’re anti-Semitic. https://t.co/MSDP3AO9qm
— Marsha Blackburn (@VoteMarsha) May 1, 2024
“Despite what you’ve said, [Omar], Jewish students aren’t ‘pro-genocide,’ history won’t be on the side of anti-Semitic protestors,” she said in another post. Alluding to older comments by Omar, Blackburn added, “(T)he US and Israel aren’t responsible for ‘crimes against humanity,’ the IDF is an army, and Hamas is a terrorist group, and Israel hasn’t ‘hypnotized the world.'”
Despite what you’ve said, @IlhanMN, Jewish students aren’t “pro-genocide,” history won’t be on the side of anti-Semitic protestors, the US and Israel aren’t responsible for “crimes against humanity,” the IDF is an army, and Hamas is a terrorist group, and Israel hasn’t… https://t.co/MSDP3AOHfU
— Marsha Blackburn (@VoteMarsha) May 1, 2024
During a visit last week to Columbia University, an epicenter of the anti-Israel protests, Omar spoke with a Fox 5 New York reporter about anti-Semitism. Omar noted that she had just met some Jewish students in an encampment before uttering the comment that stoked controversy.
“I think it is really unfortunate,” Omar said, “that people don’t care about the fact that all Jewish kids should be kept safe, and that we should not have to tolerate anti-Semitism or bigotry for all Jewish students, whether they’re pro-genocide or anti-genocide.”
Omar’s remark about Jewish students could lead to the Minnesota Democrat being formally reprimanded in the GOP-led House. One of her Republican colleagues, Rep. Don Bacon (R-NE), said he was drafting a censure resolution over the view that the comment was anti-Semitic.
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A spokesperson for Omar responded by telling Axios the congresswoman “clearly condemned antisemitism and bigotry for all Jewish students,” adding, “Attempts to misconstrue her words by drafting this baseless resolution are meant to distract” from the Gaza conflict and anti-war protests.
Omar has also said she was “enormously proud” of her daughter, Isra Hirsi, a Barnard College student who was arrested while participating in an anti-Israel protest at Columbia University.
Omar’s commentary about Israel previously got her kicked off the Foreign Affairs Committee last year. In February, Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene (R-GA) said she would force a censure vote against Omar for remarks concerning her native Somalia, but did not follow through.