House Republicans, as well as average Americans, want to see Rep. Ilhan Omar (D-MN) stripped of her position on the House Foreign Affairs Committee. The calls for her removal come after Omar made statements alleging lobbying group American Israel Public Affairs Committee (AIPAC) of buying support for Israel.
Speaker Nancy Pelosi condemned Omar's comments but said nothing about her being removed from the Committee:
In our conversation today, Congresswoman Omar and I agreed that we must use this moment to move forward as we reject anti-Semitism in all forms. https://t.co/UpZA3DNgQs pic.twitter.com/1Z6rH65e3M
— Nancy Pelosi (@SpeakerPelosi) February 11, 2019
House Republicans continued to push for Omar's removal.
House Democrat leaders should condemn this anti-Semitism and immediately remove ?@IlhanMN? from the House Foreign Affairs Committee pic.twitter.com/IYAoXEGtld
— Liz Cheney (@Liz_Cheney) February 11, 2019
Good that some Dems have condemned the disgraceful anti-Semitic remarks of Rep. Omar—but their words are empty unless Dem leaders remove her from the Foreign Affairs Committee. No one with her anti-Semitic views should be allowed to represent US foreign policy on that committee.
— Steve Scalise (@SteveScalise) February 11, 2019
Glad the Speaker broke her silence, but that apology won't do. Rep. Omar should be stripped of her committee assignments, including @HouseForeign, & HRes72 should be voted on. Rep. S King apologized as well. Was still stripped of assignments & HRes41 passed nearly unanimously. https://t.co/MFCEpuTRf3
— Lee Zeldin (@RepLeeZeldin) February 11, 2019
Rep. Elliot Engel, the Committee Chair, released a statement but failed to address whether or not Omar was staying on the Committee.
“As I have said, as Chairman of the Foreign Affairs Committee, I will ensure support for Israel remains strong and bipartisan and I will shine a light on the evil of anti-Semitism and the danger it poses,” Engel said. “I will make the case to Members on both side of the aisle that our alliance and friendship with Israel are important to our countries’ shared interests, security, and values.”
A Change.org petition was started by Jacob Wohl, demanding Omar be removed.
Here's what the petition says:
Rep. Ilhan Omar was flagged during the campaign for having a proclivity towards making antisemitic remarks, while refusing to condemn terror groups like Hezbollah and Hamas.
Upon being elected to the House of Representatives, Speaker Nancy Pelosi placed Rep. Omar on the House Foreign Affairs Committee, which is critical in steering America's foreign policy. Since taking office, Rep. Ilhan Omar's antisemitism has continued, and even escalated.
She blamed Jewish Money for America's pro-Israeli foreign policy and invoked "Benjamin's Baby" as an antisemitic trope aimed at Jared Kushner.
Enough is enough! It's time for Rep. Ilhan Omar to be removed from the House Foreign Affairs Committee.
At the time of publishing, over 27,000 people have signed the petition.