Democrats in the House of Representatives delayed a vote on a resolution that would condemn anti-Semitism following repeated comments from Rep. Ilhan Omar (D-MN).
Democratic leadership had planned for the vote to take place this week, The Daily Wire’s Emily Zanotti reported previously, but it has since been delayed so that it calls out more than anti-Semitism, further insulating Omar from criticism rather than calling out her bigotry.
The text of the original resolution didn’t even name Omar or her colleague Rep. Rashida Tlaib (D-MI), or their supporter Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, and was a “purely symbolic and toothless resolution,” according to The Daily Wire’s Josh Hammer. The original resolution did, however, include a section about specific anti-Semitic phrases such as “the myth of dual loyalty,” which Omar has repeatedly espoused.
Now the Left wants to water down the bill so that it is not a direct shot at the blatant anti-Semites in their ranks. The vote was supposed to take place Wednesday, but now may be pushed back to Thursday or beyond.
“The language is being put together now, and you’ll see it when we have it finished,” House Majority Leader Nancy Pelosi (D-CA) told reporters, according to Roll Call. Other members of House Democratic leadership told reporters about changes being made to the resolution. Rep. Ted Lieu (D-CA) said he thinks “they’re going to circulate a revised draft that talks about other forms of religious bigotry.” House Majority Whip James Clyburn (D-SC) said he wanted to broaden the resolution to be “anti-hate.”
Rep. Jamie Raskin (D-MD) claimed Democrats stand “strong against anti-Semitism” and “against racism.” Yet, they can barely even call out their own anti-Semitic members and keep them on important committees.
Omar, after facing a backlash weeks ago for suggesting Republicans take their marching orders from the American Israel Public Affairs Committee (AIPAC) and its money, doubled down on her bigotry by saying last week, “I want to talk about the political influence in this country that says it is okay to push for allegiance to a foreign country.”
This caused Rep. Eliot Engel (D-NY) to release a statement condemning Omar’s remarks. Previously, Pelosi and other members of Democratic House leadership had claimed, “Anti-Semitism must be called out, confronted and condemned wherever it is encountered, without exception.”
Apparently, there is an exception: When the person making the anti-Semitic remarks is one of the first Muslims elected to congress. Democrats want the anti-Semitism resolution updated because Omar has received Islamophobic remarks because of her religion. But Omar has received those comments from colleagues in the House. The point of the anti-Semitism resolution was to condemn it among members of the legislature. At least, that’s what the point seemed to be.
While Republicans wanted a stronger condemnation of Omar’s remarks, Democrats were able to force a change in the resolution that waters down Omar’s offensive statement and essentially protects her from any retribution from her own party. The party that “stands strong against anti-Semitism,” indeed.
Related: WATCH: Ilhan Omar Makes Most Blatant Anti-Semitic Remarks Of Her Career