Zoe Kalen Hill, NEWSWEEK, JUNE 13,2021
Representative Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez defended fellow congresswoman Ilhan Omar on Sunday, after a number of House Democrats called out Omar over remarks that seemed to compare the U.S. to Hamas and the Taliban.
© Alex Wroblewski/Getty Images U.S. Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (D-NY) pauses while speaking during a press conference at the U.S. Capitol on July 15, 2019. AOC came to fellow congresswoman's defense on Twitter.
We must have the same level of accountability and justice for all victims of crimes against humanity.We have seen unthinkable atrocities committed by the U.S., Hamas, Israel, Afghanistan, and the Taliban.I asked @SecBlinken where people are supposed to go for justice. pic.twitter.com/tUtxW5cIow— Rep. Ilhan Omar (@Ilhan) June 7, 2021
After several House Democrats sent a letter to Omar and asked her to clarify her words, she responded on June 10 via Twitter: "It's shameful for colleagues who call me when they need my support to now put out a statement asking for 'clarification' and not just call. The Islamophobic tropes in this statement are offensive. The constant harassment & silencing from the signers of this letter is unbearable."
It’s shameful for colleagues who call me when they need my support to now put out a statement asking for “clarification” and not just call.
The islamophobic tropes in this statement are offensive. The constant harassment & silencing from the signers of this letter is unbearable. https://t.co/37dy2UduW0— Ilhan Omar (@IlhanMN) June 10, 2021
Ocasio-Cortez, a Democrat from New York, took to Twitter to defend Omar on the subject. She retweeted a number of tweets from lawmakers supporting the Minnesota congresswoman, including representatives Ayanna Pressley, Cori Bush and Jamaal Bowman.
"Pretty sick & tired of the constant vilification, intentional mischaracterization, and public targeting of @IlhanMN coming from our caucus," Ocasio-Cortez tweeted on June 10. "They have no concept for the danger they put her in by skipping private conversations & leaping to fueling targeted news cycles around her."
Pretty sick & tired of the constant vilification, intentional mischaracterization, and public targeting of @IlhanMN coming from our caucus.
They have no concept for the danger they put her in by skipping private conversations & leaping to fueling targeted news cycles around her.— Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (@AOC) June 10, 2021
During a CNN interview Sunday morning, host Dana Bash spoke with Ocasio-Cortez about her tweet and asked the congresswoman to explain what she meant by Omar being "mischaracterized."
"I believe that her comments were absolutely mischaracterized," Ocasio-Cortez said. "She was very clearly speaking about the ICC investigations which name these four actors in two suits. To equate these two entities when she was speaking about the ICE investigations... was not a generous interpretation whatsoever."
Ocasio-Cortez said targeting Omar and mischaracterizing her words contributes to the "right-wing vitriol." She said that the misunderstanding began with intense right-wing outlets taking her words out of context.
"As someone who has experienced that, you know, it's very difficult to communicate the scale and how dangerous that is," Ocasio-Cortez said.
The Progressive Caucus said in a statement that the "right-wing media echo chamber" has purposefully and repeatedly put minority Congress members in the line of fire for threats. The statement urged House colleagues to not participate in the perpetuation of taking Omar any other representatives out of context.
House Speaker Nancy Pelosi concisely told CNN that the House leadership and Omar settled it, and that they were done with the incident.
"She clarified, we thanked her, end of subject," Pelosi said.
The islamophobic tropes in this statement are offensive. The constant harassment & silencing from the signers of this letter is unbearable. https://t.co/37dy2UduW0— Ilhan Omar (@IlhanMN) June 10, 2021
Ocasio-Cortez, a Democrat from New York, took to Twitter to defend Omar on the subject. She retweeted a number of tweets from lawmakers supporting the Minnesota congresswoman, including representatives Ayanna Pressley, Cori Bush and Jamaal Bowman.
"Pretty sick & tired of the constant vilification, intentional mischaracterization, and public targeting of @IlhanMN coming from our caucus," Ocasio-Cortez tweeted on June 10. "They have no concept for the danger they put her in by skipping private conversations & leaping to fueling targeted news cycles around her."
Pretty sick & tired of the constant vilification, intentional mischaracterization, and public targeting of @IlhanMN coming from our caucus.
They have no concept for the danger they put her in by skipping private conversations & leaping to fueling targeted news cycles around her.— Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (@AOC) June 10, 2021
During a CNN interview Sunday morning, host Dana Bash spoke with Ocasio-Cortez about her tweet and asked the congresswoman to explain what she meant by Omar being "mischaracterized."
"I believe that her comments were absolutely mischaracterized," Ocasio-Cortez said. "She was very clearly speaking about the ICC investigations which name these four actors in two suits. To equate these two entities when she was speaking about the ICE investigations... was not a generous interpretation whatsoever."
Ocasio-Cortez said targeting Omar and mischaracterizing her words contributes to the "right-wing vitriol." She said that the misunderstanding began with intense right-wing outlets taking her words out of context.
"As someone who has experienced that, you know, it's very difficult to communicate the scale and how dangerous that is," Ocasio-Cortez said.
The Progressive Caucus said in a statement that the "right-wing media echo chamber" has purposefully and repeatedly put minority Congress members in the line of fire for threats. The statement urged House colleagues to not participate in the perpetuation of taking Omar any other representatives out of context.
House Speaker Nancy Pelosi concisely told CNN that the House leadership and Omar settled it, and that they were done with the incident.
"She clarified, we thanked her, end of subject," Pelosi said.
House Speaker Nancy Pelosi on Sunday said House leadership "did not rebuke" Democratic Rep. Ilhan Omar last week, after criticism from the left that the caucus was unfairly targeting Omar and mischaracterizing her comments about the US, Israel, Hamas and the Taliban.
© Getty Images
"We did not rebuke her. We acknowledged that she made a clarification," Pelosi told CNN's Dana Bash on "State of the Union." "Congresswoman Omar is a valued member of our caucus. She asked her questions of the Secretary of State. Nobody criticized those, about how people will be held accountable if we're not going to the International Court of Justice. That was a very legitimate question. That was not of concern."
The dust up within the party began Monday when Omar, a Minnesota Democrat, tweeted that "we have seen unthinkable atrocities committed by the U.S., Hamas, Israel, Afghanistan, and the Taliban," along with video of her questioning Secretary of State Antony Blinken that day during a House hearing.
The disagreement spilled into public on Wednesday when a group of Jewish House Democrats accused her of equating the US and Israel with the Taliban and Hamas.
Facing calls from the group of fellow Democrats to clarify her comments, Omar said Thursday that she was "in no way equating terrorist organizations with democratic countries," but that her conversation with Blinken was about accountability for specific incidents regarding ongoing International Criminal Court investigations.
Video: Pelosi dismisses Omar comments: 'She clarified. End of subject' (CNN)
On Thursday, Pelosi and House leadership later issued a statement saying they welcomed the clarification from Omar, but that also read, "Drawing false equivalencies between democracies like the U.S. and Israel and groups that engage in terrorism like Hamas and the Taliban foments prejudice and undermines progress toward a future of peace and security for all."
Michigan Democratic Rep. Rashida Tlaib, who along with Omar is part of the progressive group of lawmakers known as "the Squad," criticized the statement from House leadership, saying they "should be ashamed of its relentless, exclusive tone policing of Congresswomen of color." Other progressives criticized Democrats for issuing their statement publicly rather than first discussing the issue privately with Omar.
Following the House leadership's statement, the progressive caucus issued a statement Thursday in support of Omar and urging colleagues "not to abet or amplify such divisive and bad faith tactics" from a "right-wing media echo chamber" that is "distorting" Omar's views.
Also appearing on "State of the Union" Sunday, Democratic Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez of New York told CNN that she believes Omar's comments were "absolutely mischaracterized" and taken out of context by right-wing websites.
"When we feed into that, it adds legitimacy to a lot of this kind of right-wing vitriol. It absolutely increases that target," she told Bash. "And as someone who has experienced that, it's very difficult to communicate the scale and how dangerous that is."
Asked if she wants people to let the matter go, Pelosi replied, "She clarified, we thanked her, end of subject."
Ocasio-Cortez later added, "As Speaker Pelosi said, we are putting this behind us and I believe that we will ultimately come together as a caucus."
"We did not rebuke her. We acknowledged that she made a clarification," Pelosi told CNN's Dana Bash on "State of the Union." "Congresswoman Omar is a valued member of our caucus. She asked her questions of the Secretary of State. Nobody criticized those, about how people will be held accountable if we're not going to the International Court of Justice. That was a very legitimate question. That was not of concern."
The dust up within the party began Monday when Omar, a Minnesota Democrat, tweeted that "we have seen unthinkable atrocities committed by the U.S., Hamas, Israel, Afghanistan, and the Taliban," along with video of her questioning Secretary of State Antony Blinken that day during a House hearing.
The disagreement spilled into public on Wednesday when a group of Jewish House Democrats accused her of equating the US and Israel with the Taliban and Hamas.
Facing calls from the group of fellow Democrats to clarify her comments, Omar said Thursday that she was "in no way equating terrorist organizations with democratic countries," but that her conversation with Blinken was about accountability for specific incidents regarding ongoing International Criminal Court investigations.
Video: Pelosi dismisses Omar comments: 'She clarified. End of subject' (CNN)
On Thursday, Pelosi and House leadership later issued a statement saying they welcomed the clarification from Omar, but that also read, "Drawing false equivalencies between democracies like the U.S. and Israel and groups that engage in terrorism like Hamas and the Taliban foments prejudice and undermines progress toward a future of peace and security for all."
Michigan Democratic Rep. Rashida Tlaib, who along with Omar is part of the progressive group of lawmakers known as "the Squad," criticized the statement from House leadership, saying they "should be ashamed of its relentless, exclusive tone policing of Congresswomen of color." Other progressives criticized Democrats for issuing their statement publicly rather than first discussing the issue privately with Omar.
Following the House leadership's statement, the progressive caucus issued a statement Thursday in support of Omar and urging colleagues "not to abet or amplify such divisive and bad faith tactics" from a "right-wing media echo chamber" that is "distorting" Omar's views.
Also appearing on "State of the Union" Sunday, Democratic Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez of New York told CNN that she believes Omar's comments were "absolutely mischaracterized" and taken out of context by right-wing websites.
"When we feed into that, it adds legitimacy to a lot of this kind of right-wing vitriol. It absolutely increases that target," she told Bash. "And as someone who has experienced that, it's very difficult to communicate the scale and how dangerous that is."
Asked if she wants people to let the matter go, Pelosi replied, "She clarified, we thanked her, end of subject."
Ocasio-Cortez later added, "As Speaker Pelosi said, we are putting this behind us and I believe that we will ultimately come together as a caucus."
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