Former KKK leader David Duke backed Rep. Ilhan Omar (D-MN)’s antisemitic statement Sunday that the U.S. Congress supports Israel because its members had been paid to do so.
He tweeted on Monday:
So, let us get this straight. It is “Anti-Semitism” to point out that the most powerful political moneybags in American politics are Zionists who put another nation’s interest (israel’s) over that of America ??????
On Sunday, Omar cast the American Israel Public Affairs Committee (AIPAC) as the purchaser of U.S. foreign policy.
In 2012, Omar tweeted: “Israel has hypnotized the world.”
Omar is openly anti-Zionist, opposing Israel’s existence as a Jewish state.
Duke regularly frames American politics — particularly its foreign policy towards Israel and the broader Middle East and North Africa — as procured by Jewish interests at the expense of America’s national interest.
Duke broadly aligns himself with the “Palestinian” national movement, framing Israel as a state born in sin that “commits ethnic cleansing” against Levantine Arabs.
Despite House Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-CA) calling on Omar to apologize for “deeply offensive” and “hurtful comments,” she made no mention of removing the Minnesota congresswoman from committee assignments.
Rep. Eliot Engel (D-NY) — chairman of the House Committee on Foreign Affairs where Omar holds a seat — linked Omar’s comments to antisemitism via a statement on Monday:
Rep. Jerry Nadler (D-NY) described Omar’s tweets as “deeply disturbing” via a Monday-published statement:
In 2016, then-presidential candidate Donald Trump repeatedly condemned David Duke despite attempts by CNN’s Jake Tapper to link him with the former Ku Klux Klan grand wizard.
Omar subsequently offered an apology for her tweets, while still describing AIPAC as “problematic.”
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