1:41
- ABC News
- March 8, 2019
Rep. Omar says criticism of Obama was distorted
The Minnesota congresswoman has been at the center of controversy this week.
1:41
In a March 2018 Quinnpiac Poll 49 percent of Democrats ranked Obama as the best president the United States has had since World War II.
![\"PHOTO:](\"http://a.abcnews.com/images/Politics/ilhan-omar-file-gty-jef-190213_hpMain_4x3t_384.jpg\")
On Friday evening, the POLITICO reporter who wrote the story, Tim Alberta, defended his characterization of Omar's comments about Obama.
Exhibit A of how politicians use the media as a straw man to avoid owning what they said.
— Tim Alberta (@TimAlberta) March 8, 2019
Your tape...supports what I wrote 100%. So does my longer tape. It's beyond dispute.
Next time, a phone call from your office before the Twitter ambush would be appreciated. https://t.co/eb2grgn5Cd
Omar has been the subject of scrutiny on Capitol Hill for the better part of the last month, and her comments about Israel earlier this week sparked a debate over anti-Semitism that led the House to pass a resolution Thursday condemning \"hate in all its forms.\"
In a joint statement released Thursday evening Omar, along with the other two Muslim members of Congress, Reps. Rashida Tlaib of Michigan and Andre Carson of Indiana, the trio praised the resolution writing, \"We are tremendously proud to be part of a body that has put forth a condemnation of all forms of bigotry including anti-Semitism, racism and white supremacy ... Our nation is having a difficult conversation and we believe this is great progress.\"
Our nation is having a difficult conversation, but we believe this is great progress. pic.twitter.com/gSua9a8mki
— Rep. Ilhan Omar (@Ilhan) March 7, 2019
While her comments earned a rebuke from many House Democrats, Omar was defended by a number of the party's leading presidential candidates. including Sens. Bernie Sanders, Kamala Harris and Elizabeth Warren.
In a statement released Wednesday afternoon, Vermont Sen. Bernie Sanders, who is Jewish and lived in Israel for a time in the 1960s, said that while anti-Semitism \"must be vigorously opposed in the United States and around the world,\" the country \"must not, however, equate anti-Semitism with legitimate criticism of the right-wing, Netanyahu government in Israel.\"
\"What I fear is going on in the House now is an effort to target Congresswoman Omar as a way of stifling that debate. That's wrong,\" Sanders added.
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