Tuesday on FNC’s “Fox & Friends,” Rep. Michael Burgess (R-TX) weighed in on Rep. Ilhan Omar (D-MN) comparing the United States and Israel to the terrorist organization Hamas.
Omar’s comments were quickly criticized, even by members of her own party, but Reps. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (D-NY), Cori Bush (D-MO), Ayanna Pressley (D-MA) and Rashida Tlaib (D-MI) came to her defense.
Burgess said the comparison was “absolutely uncalled for.” He added such language about an ally in Israel has “no place in our discourse.”
“Look, Israel is our ally, has been our ally — our historic ally. President Truman recognized Israel shortly after its formation, so to equate them with a terrorist organization [is] absolutely uncalled for. It made everyone, I would say on both sides of the political divide … made everyone uncomfortable.”
“We should all watch our language,” he added. “There’s no question about that. But there is no place, no place, for referring to our ally, Israel, in the same breath as a terrorist organization.”
Burgess was asked if it was “fair” to refer to the far-left members of the Democratic Party who defended Omar as the “Hamas Caucus.”
“I don’t think I would use that terminology. I don’t think that terminology was used in the resolution, but the use of the juxtaposition of our ally, Israel, with a terrorist organization has no place in our discourse either,” he replied.
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