The ouster of controversial Rep. Ilhan Omar from her seat on the powerful House Foreign Affairs Committee drew the usual cries of racism from her defenders who were quick to gloss over her history of antisemitic sentiment, one of whom was “The View” co-host Sunny Hostin who was called out for her excuse-making.
The Minnesota Democrat was among three lawmakers who were booted from their committees by the new GOP House majority, a recently established standard set by former Speaker Nancy Pelosi that came back to bite the left-wing party when it was applied to them, in Omar’s case deservedly so with much sentiment that she should have never been allowed a position on the committee in the first place.
On Friday’s edition of the popular ABC daytime gabfest, the race-obsessed Hostin was smacked down by fellow co-host Joy Behar for her silly argument that because she was an immigrant, Omar didn’t realize that she was using antisemitic tropes about Jews and Israel, none of which resulted in the serious disciplinary measures that they were deserving of when Democrats held control of the lower chamber.
(Video: ABC via MRC/NewsBusters)
Behar kicked off the discussion by essentially calling Omar a liar.
“I have to say about her, though, something she said that I’m not sure – I mean, I get what you’re saying. Believe me, I understand that. Because the right wing is very hypocritical. But she said that she did not know that what she said that was construed as antisemitic, she didn’t know that was what they call a trope, a Jewish trope. And that she didn’t know that. That people equate money with Jews, for instance. I don’t believe her.”
Hostin then suggested that the Somali-born congresswoman should get a free pass because she’s new here.
“I do. I think she’s an immigrant. I think she’s had a different experience,” she said.
“She’s been here a long time,” Behar pointed out. Omar has been in the United States since 1995.
“That’s a trope that’s largely – you hear in this country. So, I’m not surprised she didn’t know,” Hostin responded, doubling down on the idea that Omar’s casual Jew-bashing should be excused.
Behar shot back, “That is not a trope – excuse me. That is not a trope that is just here in this country. That is a worldwide trope.”
“Maybe it’s everywhere. Let me just say this..,” Hostin began to explain before another co-host interrupted.
“She was on the Foreign Affairs Committee. She should know better,” said Alyssa Farah Griffin.
Hostin continued to make excuses for Omar, “The other piece of it, Joy…I take her at her word that she didn’t know. And she nevertheless apologized and met with Jewish members of her caucus.”
“Fine, that’s good,” Behar said, cutting Omar a bit of slack.
Then Hostin went to the race card, her specialty.
“That other thing is, I don’t think this is hypocrisy. I think it’s pure racism. And I think we should call that out when we see it and we hear it and we look at it,” she said before throwing in former President Trump for good measure to argue her point that race was the underlying reason for Omar being booted from the committee.
“I don’t think its hypocrisy because she was elected in 2018 I believe,” she said. “Yeah, 2018. She has been the subject of targets, racial targets, or racialized targets since then. Donald Trump said during one of his rallies in 2019 that she should be — send her back. Other members of the caucus of the Republican caucus have targeted her. And so, the suggestion that somehow that it’s merely hypocrisy I think devalues what this really is and that’s racism.”
After more back and forth, Farah Griffin laid out the facts,” This is a committee tasked with Israeli-U.S. relations. She has shown a lack of understanding of antisemitism at a time when it’s on the rise in the U.S. and around the globe.”
“She’s equated Hamas, a U.S. State Department designated terrorist organization with the U.S. and Israel, as well as the Taliban. But she also trafficked – I’m not going to repeat it because we have to be careful with that – a trope about Jews controlling power, which dated back to a Nazi-era film produced by Goebbels about a Jewish person hypnotizing people for power. She does not understand the policies she’s working on,” she said.
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