Reps. Rashida Tlaib (D-MI) and Ilhan Omar (D-MN) have officially crossed the line because Democratic leader Jerry Nadler has called them out. After President Trump accused Jewish Americans who vote Democratic of "disloyalty," Tlaib and Omar shared a cartoon that depicted Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and President Trump placing their hands over their mouths.
Oof. Looks like both Rep. Omar and Rep. Tlaib shared this awful Carlos Latuff cartoon in Instagram stories yesterday. In 2006, Latuff came in second in Iran's International Holocaust Cartoon Contest, which is a thing that exists, in case you thought the TL couldn't get any worse. pic.twitter.com/uwyBPAsz7T
— Batya Ungar-Sargon (@bungarsargon) August 18, 2019
As Ungar-Sargon, an opinion editor for the Forward, explained in a detailed Twitter thread, the cartoonist responsible for the image once placed second in a Holocaust denial drawing competition. She then explained why the image itself was atrocious.
"Jews controlling and subverting world leaders is a classic anti-Semitic trope," she wrote. "So is Jews silencing critics. But no one has silenced the Reps. The ways in which it gets the story wrong fits into an aesthetic designed to give anti-Semites pleasure."
"Partnering with an org that published blood libels & neo-Nazi materials & now sharing Latuff is beneath the office," she added.
Nadler called the cartoon what it is - vile.
The growing anti-Semitism in our political dialogue is repugnant. @realdonaldtrump’s comments about disloyalty are a vicious and dangerous anti-Semitic trope. And the Carlos Latuff cartoon forwarded by @RepRashida and @Ilhan can surely be read for its vile underlying message.
— (((Rep. Nadler))) (@RepJerryNadler) August 22, 2019
Nadler's sentiment is shared by plenty of others in Congress.
Israel barred Tlaib and Omar from visiting the country because of their support of the Boycott, Divestment and Sanctions movement, which promotes a boycott of Israeli goods and services. Tlaib was then granted permission to visit her grandmother, but she declined, arguing Israel was just trying to humiliate her. It was the opinion of President Trump and many others that this had nothing to do with visiting family at all. It was all a political pawn.
