Rep. Liz Cheney (R-WY) told NBC’s “Meet the Press” Sunday that she didn’t feel comfortable voting for the Democrats’ broad anti-hate resolution last week because the Democrats used the resolution to “cover up” freshman Rep. Ilhan Omar’s (D-MN) “bigotry and anti-Semitism.”
Rep. Cheney, the third-ranking House Republican, argued that the resolution "was really clearly an effort to actually protect Ilhan Omar, to cover up her bigotry and anti-Semitism by refusing to name her."
She was one of 23 Republicans to vote against the measure. In an initial statement explaining her vote, she clarified that she was “whole heartedly against discrimination outlined in this resolution,” but the refusal to condemn Omar specifically was objectionable.
"It is absolutely shameful that Nancy Pelosi and Leader Hoyer and the Democratic leaders will not put her name in a resolution on the floor and condemn her remarks and remove her from the House Foreign Affairs Committee," she concluded Sunday. "Those people who won't condemn it are enabling it."
ICYMI: Rep. Liz Cheney (R-Wyo.) says Democrats are "enabling anti-Semitism" and describes why she voted against resolution condemning hate. #MTP #IfItsSunday@Liz_Cheney: "I decided to vote against it because it was really clearly an effort to protect Ilhan Omar." pic.twitter.com/4mN5n8UxXl
— Meet the Press (@MeetThePress) March 11, 2019
The resolution had initially been planned by top Democrats after Rep. Omar made remarks “about the political influence in this country that says it is okay for people to push for allegiance to a foreign country,” in reference to Israel. Many, including fellow Democrats, condemned these comments as a reference to an anti-Semitic “dual loyalty” trope. Omar has also had to apologize for similar past comments that were widely interpreted as anti-Semitic.
However, the resolution condemning anti-Semitism never named Omar and split the Democrats as some of the newer, far-left members of the party came to Omar’s defense and questioned why there was a resolution condemning anti-Semitism but not condemning other forms of prejudice.
The resolution passed by a vote of 407-23 Thursday evening and "rejects the perpetuation of anti-Semitic stereotypes in the United States and around the world, including the pernicious myth of dual loyalty and foreign allegiance," and "condemns anti-Muslim discrimination and bigotry against all minorities as contrary to the values of the United States."