Rep. Ilhan Omar (D-MN) is by all accounts having a total disaster of a week. She peddled anti-Semitism on Twitter, which was so bad that the entire House Democratic leadership condemned her for it. She was forced to issue an apology, but it was your classic non-apology apology. So, while she’s not out of the woods yet, with her resurrecting her past anti-Semitic antics, it probably wasn’t the best time to rip into a Jewish diplomat, going on a ridiculous line of questioning against Special Envoy to Venezuela Elliott Abrams during Wednesday afternoon's House Foreign Affairs Committee hearing. First, she butchered his name and it didn’t get better. I mean, just take a look at this exchange (via Fox News):
At hrng, Dem MN Rep Ilhan Omar brings up Iran-Contra w/special Envoy for Venezuela Elliott Abrams. Asks if he would back genocide in Venezuela like he did in Guatemala
— Chad Pergram (@ChadPergram) February 13, 2019
Abrams: That is a ridiculous question. I'm not going to respond to that kind of personal attack
…during a House hearing on the Caracas crisis after the congresswoman tried to turn focus to Abrams' history in Latin America while asking him point-blank whether he'd support "genocide" if it served American interests.
Abrams fired back, calling the line of questioning "ridiculous" and refusing to respond to the personal "attack."
The questioning was the latest moment in the spotlight for Omar, who earlier this week apologized for tweets considered anti-Semitic -- and who previously criticized what she described as a "US backed coup" in Venezuela, though many countries beyond the U.S. have recognized Juan Guaido, the opposition head of the National Assembly, as the interim president over Nicolás Maduro.
[…]
“In 1991, you pleaded guilty to two counts of withholding information to Congress regarding your involvement [in] the Iran-Contra affair for which you were later pardoned by George H.W. Bush,” Omar said. “I fail to understand why members of this committee or the American people should find any testimony that you give today to be truthful.”
[…]
Omar then asked if he would “support crimes against humanity or genocide if you believe they were serving U.S. interests as you did in Guatemala, El Salvador and Nicaragua.” Abrams in the past had defended Guatemalan dictator Efraín Ríos Montt, who oversaw a campaign in which thousands of Guatemalans were either massacred or disappeared and who was later convicted of genocide. Omar, though, has also faced criticism for challenging the U.S. policy in Venezuela, and her questions appeared to suggest active U.S. opposition to Maduro, who has overseen a complete economic collapse in Venezuela, could spiral into "genocide."
Abrams responded: “I don’t believe this line of questioning is meant to be real questions and so I will not reply.”
It was a total clown show (via Free Beacon):
Anti-Semitic Rep. Ilhan Omar (D-MN): “Yes or no, do you think that massacre was a fabulous achievement that happened under our watch?”
— Ryan Saavedra (@RealSaavedra) February 13, 2019
Elliott Abrams: “That is a ridiculous question”
Omar: “Yes or no?”
Abrams: “No!”
Omar: “I will take that as a ‘yes’” pic.twitter.com/dFia0mvTEW
.@IlhanMN opens up her questioning of Elliott Abrams by calling him "Mr. Adams" and it goes downhill from there pic.twitter.com/ZCYTUq3NXe
— David Rutz (@DavidRutz) February 13, 2019
She went on to recount his 1982 congressional testimony about U.S. policy toward El Salvador, where as Assistant Secretary of State he said reports about the El Mozote massacre perpetrated by the Salvadoran Army weren't credible. Omar discussed the details of the massacre and quoted Abrams's remarks that U.S. policy there was a "fabulous achievement."
"Yes or no. Do you still think so?" she asked.
"From the day that President [José] Duarte was elected in a free election to this day, El Salvador has been a democracy," Abrams said. "That's a fabulous achievement."
"Yes or no. Do you think that massacre was a fabulous achievement that happened under our watch?" she asked.
"That is a ridiculous question, and—no!" Abrams said.
"I will that as a yes," Omar said. She’s a bull in a china closet. And no, the criticism isn’t because she’s a black Muslim. That’s just your typical go-to for liberals who cannot stand that their rules are being used against them. People of color who are pieces of anti-Semitic trash get dragged through the mud, pressed on their beliefs, and criticized just as harshly as the rest of their ilk. Anti-Semites can be black, white, Asian, Christian, Muslim, atheist, liberal, and conservative. And the Left doesn’t get a pass because they feel their side is morally superior. Sorry, that’s not real life. Just because she’s black and Muslim doesn’t mean she has a shield from criticism, especially when she’s parroting narratives that are mostly heard at Ku Klux Klan rallies. Kind of ironic, isn’t it?
The Democrats have a serious problem on their hands https://t.co/Qb6XsXcwJe
— Brent Scher (@BrentScher) February 13, 2019
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