News and Commentary

WATCH: Meghan McCain Breaks Down Into Tears Discussing Anti-Semitism, Rep. Ilhan Omar

   DailyWire.com

On Thursday, “The View” co-host Meghan McCain broke down into tears discussing her concern over the rise in anti-Semitism in the United States, a discussion which sprang from Democrats’ refusal to condemn Rep. Ilhan Omar (D-MI) for anti-Semitic statements. McCain argued that anti-Semitism should not be a partisan issue, noting that she has a personal connection to the matter due to family-like ties to former Senator Joe Liberman and his wife Hadas, who are Jewish.

“This issue is really intense one for me and just bear with me,” said McCain. “Anti-Semitism shouldn’t be a left or right issue. I don’t think we should be politicizing on either side because, as we know, if it’s a tiki torch person in Charlottesville saying ‘Jews will not replace us’ or we had Bari Weiss talking about these more dog whistle moments, that in my view, Ilhan Omar is doing.”

McCain challenged those on the left side of the aisle to view Omar’s comments as if they were said by a white Republican man. How would they react then, she asked.

Co-host Joy Behar said she condemns all anti-Semitism and noted an “obsession” with Israel. But co-host Sunny Hostin took a different route: defending Rep. Omar.

Hostin claimed Omar’s remarks were merely criticizing policy. The co-host notably refused to allow McCain to read off all Omar’s anti-Semitic remarks because, according to Hostin, Omar apologized for those so they do not count.

“Ilhan Omar has never suggested that Israel does not have the right to exist. It seems to me that Republicans are trying to use this as a wedge issue,” she said.

As noted by Daily Wire Editor-in-Chief Ben Shapiro, Rep. Omar’s remarks were not targeting Israel, but Jews. He pointed out that she “has a long history of anti-Semitism: accusing Israel of ‘hypnotizing the world,’ suggesting that American support for Israel is ‘all about the Benjamins,’ backing the anti-Semitic BDS movement.” More recently, she accused Jewish Americans of having “dual allegiance.”

Hostin then heightened her authority to speak on the matter, noting that she is a person of color and has a grandfather who is a Sephardic Jew.

“I take this very personally as a woman of color who has been the subject of so much bigotry. What a lot of people don’t know is that my grandfather is Jewish, he was a Sephardic Jew. My family members have received a lot of bigotry, so, you know, I’ve experienced firsthand in my family anti-semitism and bigotry for being black,” she argued.

McCain, who was told she was not allowed to interject as Hostin spoke, piped in: “Are you comfortable with me speaking now? Are we comfortable with me rebutting now?”

McCain said that just because she doesn’t have blood relatives who are Jewish doesn’t mean she doesn’t have a personal connection to the issue.

“I take this very personally,” she said, visibly emotional. “I don’t have family that is Jewish but Joe Lieberman and Hadas Lieberman are my family. I take the hate crimes rising in this country incredibly seriously, and I think what’s happening in Europe is really scary and I’m sorry if I’m getting emotional.”

“Just because I don’t technically have Jewish family that are blood related to me doesn’t mean that I don’t take this as seriously,” she added. “It is very dangerous, very dangerous and I think we collectively as Americans on both sides, and what Ilhan Omar is saying is very scary to me and very scary to a lot of people and I don’t think you have to be Jewish to recognize that.”

WATCH:

(Partial transcript via AlterNet)

Got a tip worth investigating?

Your information could be the missing piece to an important story. Submit your tip today and make a difference.

Submit Tip
The Daily Wire   >  Read   >  WATCH: Meghan McCain Breaks Down Into Tears Discussing Anti-Semitism, Rep. Ilhan Omar