President Donald Trump said Friday that the Democratic Party has become “anti-Jewish” and “anti-Israel,” after the controversy generated by the comments of Muslim lawmaker Ilhan Omar, considered contrary to the Jews by various sectors.
“The Democrats have become a party opposed to Israel, they have become a party opposed to the Jews, and this is very wrong,” Trump told reporters before boarding the presidential Air Force One plane in the direction of the state of Alabama.
Trump made the remarks after the House of Representatives, with a Democratic majority, approved Thursday a resolution against “anti-Semitism, Islamophobia, racism and other forms of intolerance.”
Trump called this vote “shameful”, although he gave no reasons or details of his opinion.
The measure was approved by a large majority with 407 votes in favor and 23 against.
One of the legislators who voted against, the representative for Texas Louie Gohmert, lamented today in a speech in plenary that the language of the bill had been “diluted” instead of explicitly condemning Omar’s comments.
Omar, one of the first two Muslims to be elected to Congress in the last legislative elections, suggested last week that in the country there are people “loyal” to the State of Israel.
“I want to talk about the political influence in this country that says it’s good for people to promote loyalty to a foreign country (Israel),” the lawmaker said during a forum.
This statement annoyed certain sectors of society, including Jewish members of the Democratic Party.
Omar had already published two Twitter messages in February that were labeled as “anti-Semitic”, one of them referring to the economic influence that Israeli pressure groups exert on Congress.
The Speaker of the Lower House, Democrat Nancy Pelosi, considered this Thursday before the vote, that Omar “did not measure well the weight of his words,” although he said he does not believe that the congresswoman is anti-Semitic.
The resolution approved this Thursday “encourages all public officials to face the reality of anti-Semitism, Islamophobia, racism and other forms of intolerance, as well as the historical struggles against them.”
