Former NY assemblyman claims 'radical' Dems like Rep. Omar responsible for surge in anti-Semitic attacks

close

Video

Former New York assemblyman slams 'radical' Dems, claims they're responsible for anti-Semitism surge

Former New York Assemblyman Dov Hikind says Democratic leaders, including House Speaker Nancy Pelosi and Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer, need to deal with Rep. Ilhan Omar 'in an effective way.'

Former New York Assemblyman Dov Hikind blamed "radical" Democrats for the recent surge in anti-Semitic attacks across the country, arguing that party leaders are "missing in action" and are not doing anything to stop it. 

Hikind argued on "Fox & Friends Weekend" on Sunday that those "radical" Democrats include Reps. Ilhan Omar, D-Minn., Rashida Tlaib, D-Mich., Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, D-N.Y., and Cori Bush, D-Mo.

He slammed Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer, calling him a "coward" for not standing up to the group, saying he is "missing in action" and "you can't find him." 

 "The reason he doesn't speak out and stand up in spite of the fact that he says, ‘I'm a proud Jew and I’m a defender of the Jewish people’, [is because] he is terrified that AOC will run against him for the Senate," Hikind said. "So what does he do? He acts like a coward." 

"I use the word ‘coward’ because that is exactly how I describe the leaders of the Democratic Party," Hikind continued. "Where are they to do the right thing? That is all I'm asking. Do the right thing." 

"I'm sick and tired of the hate that is being spread by the Democrats," he went on to say. "They are responsible for the attacks upon Jews in this country, the Likes of Omar, Tlaib, AOC, [and] Cori Bush."

Spokespeople for of Omar, Tlaib, Ocasio-Cortez, Bush and Schumer did not respond to Fox News’ request for comment. 

Hikind was responding to Omar appearing to equate the United States and its long-standing ally Israel to the Hamas terror organization and the Taliban, a comparison which drew sharp condemnation from both sides of the aisle in Congress.

Hamas issued a statement praising Omar for "defending justice," but criticized the Minnesota Democrat for comparing the Palestinian militant group to the U.S. and Israel. 

The terrorist organization said Omar had equated the "victim" to the "oppressor." 

TOP DEMS REBUKE ILHAN OMAR FOR US, ISRAEL COMPARISON TO TERRORIST GROUPS: ‘NO MORAL EQUIVALENCY’

"She equated the resistance of the Palestinian people on the one hand, and the crimes of the Israeli occupation in Palestine and the American aggression in Afghanistan on the other," wrote Dr. Basem Naim from Hamas' international relations office. 

"We must have the same level of accountability and justice for all victims of crimes against humanity. We have seen unthinkable atrocities committed by the U.S., Hamas, Israel, Afghanistan, and the Taliban. I asked [Secretary of State Antony Blinken] where people are supposed to go for justice," Omar tweeted Monday.

"We appreciate Mrs. Ilhan Omar's stances in defending justice and the rights of the oppressed around the world, foremost of which are the just rights of our Palestinian people, but we deplore this unfair combination," Naim wrote. 

Meanwhile, 12 Jewish Democratic House members blasted her comparison as "offensive" and "misguided" in a letter. They urged her to clarify her words.

Omar then called criticism of her words "Islamophobic" and "offensive." 

But days later, as criticism piled on from all the way up to House Speaker Nancy Pelosi, Omar issued a clarification.

"On Monday, I asked Secretary of State Antony Blinken about an ongoing International Criminal Court investigations," Omar said in the statement. "To be clear: the conversation was about accountability for specific incidents regarding those ICC cases, not a moral comparison between Hamas and the Taliban and the U.S. and Israel."

The "Squad" member added that she was "in no way equating terrorist organizations with Democratic countries with well-established judicial systems."

"The whole thing is incredibly insane," Hikind reacted on Sunday. "The leadership of the Democratic Party, they need to stop being cowards and they need to deal with Omar in an effective way."

He then asked, "What in God's name is she still doing on the foreign affairs committee? Why is she still there?" 

Hikind then claimed that Democrats, including Pelosi, D-Calif., let Omar "get away with her anti-Semitism."

He added that "things are out of control" as it pertains to anti-Semitism and stressed that the "radical" group is "responsible."

"When is my Democratic Party going to do the right thing? When will they have the courage to act seriously and do something about these radicals?" he asked.  

Video

A spokesperson for Pelosi did not respond to Fox News’ request for comment, but speaking on CNN's "State of the Union" she appeared to brush aside recent controversial comments from Omar that drew criticism from fellow Democrats for comparing the U.S. and Israel to Hamas and the Taliban.

On Sunday, Pelosi called Omar a "valued member of our caucus," and said she is satisfied with Omar's subsequent "clarification" of her remarks.

Eight House Republicans, led by Rep. Carlos Gimenez of Florida, demanded in a letter to Pelosi that she remove Omar from her committee assignments – just as Democrats earlier this year pushed to remove Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene, R-Ga., from her committee assignments after making controversial comments. 

After Omar's clarification, Pelosi said the matter was settled. 

CLICK HERE TO GET THE FOX NEWS APP

"I think that she clarified her remarks and we accept that, and she has a point that she wanted to make and she has a right to make that point," Pelosi said. "There's some unease about how it was interpreted."

Fox News’ Audrey Conklin, Tyler Olson, Ronn Blitzer and Morgan Phillips contributed to this report.