Jeffries accuses GOP of hypocrisy, antisemitism with move to boot Omar from Foreign Affairs Committee

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Jeffries accuses GOP of hypocrisy with move to boot Omar from Foreign Affairs Committee

House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries on Thursday criticized Republicans for moving ahead with a vote on removing Rep. Ilhan Omar from the Foreign Affairs Committee.

House Minority Leader Hakeem Jefferies on Thursday accused the GOP of hypocrisy and engaging in antisemitic behavior as it moved to boot Rep. Ilhan Omar, D-Minn., from the Foreign Affairs Committee over comments she made relating to Israel.

Ahead of the Thursday House vote to remove Omar from committee, Jefferies slammed the GOP of having a "quadruple" standard and said it was employing "political revenge."

"Rep. Omar certainly has made mistakes she has used antisemitic tropes that were clearly and unequivocally condemned by House Democrats when it took place four years ago," he told reporters.

Rep. Hakeem Jeffries, D-N.Y., speaks at a news conference at the Capitol on Jan. 3, 2023 in Washington, D.C.   (Tasos Katopodis/Getty Images)

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Jefferies referenced a 2019 tweet in which Omar said, "It’s all about the Benjamins baby" while referring to the pro-Israeli lobbying group AIPAC, but which many took as a trope akin to the stereotype relating to Jews and greed.

The minority leader said the Democratic Party immediately condemned her comments, called on her to issue and apology and said, "She has indicated that she will learn from her mistakes is working to build bridges."

But Republican leadership in the House have continued to call for her removal from the Foreign Affairs committee. 

Rep. Ilhan Omar, D-Minn., is seen in the U.S. Capitols Rayburn Room on Wednesday, April 6, 2022, with the Congressional Black Caucus. (Tom Williams/CQ-Roll Call, Inc via Getty Images)

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"This is not about accountability. It's about political revenge," Jefferies told reporters. "Why haven't House Republican leaders denounced any of the things that have been said by their members?"

Jefferies pointed to a September 2021 tweet by Kentucky Republican Rep. Thomas Massie when he responded to an advertisement by AIPAC that called for "bipartisan commitment to Israel" as a matter of "national interests."

Massie tweeted the ad and questioned, "How is this not foreign interference in our elections?"

"That's not an antisemitic trope?" questioned Jefferies. "That's not playing into dangerous stereotypes about the Jewish community here in America, suggesting that they have dual loyalty?"

"To this day, not a single House Republican leader has said a word," he added. 

Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene, R-Ga., right, accompanied by from left, Rep. Mo Brooks, R-Ala., Rep. Bob Good, R-Va., Rep. Buddy Carter, R-Ga., and Rep. Thomas Massie, R-Ky., takes a question during a news conference. (AP Photo/Andrew Harnik)

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Jefferies also pointed an October 2022 tweet from Georgia Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene who posted a picture depicting President Biden as Adolf Hitler with swastikas in the background. 

"And Marjorie Taylor Greene has been rewarded with a seat on the Homeland Security Committee. You can't make this up," he added. "This type of poisonous, toxic double standard is going to complicate the relationship moving forward between House Democrats and Republicans."