Former Republican New Hampshire Gov. Chris Sununu detailed Democratic Minnesota Rep. Ilhan Omar’s track record of antisemitism during a “CNN NewsNight” panel Monday night.
Pro-Hamas demonstrations erupted at multiple universities and colleges since the Oct. 7, 2023 attack by Hamas that killed over 1,200 people in Israel, seeing protesters occupy buildings, chant a slogan that has connotations of wiping out Israel and block Jewish students from parts of campus. Sununu said that Omar, whose daughter was reportedly suspended for her part in the pro-Hamas protests, and Democratic Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez of New York were “joining in.”
“You guys are barely scratching the surface here. This isn’t just about we need more Democrats to condemn what’s happening. How about let’s get Democrats not joining in on it? How about AOC and Rep. Omar don’t join those college campuses?” Sununu said when Democratic strategist Maria Cardona tried to say antisemitism grew since President Donald Trump’s first term. “And this hasn’t been going on for 10 years. It’s been going on for 18 months. And it starts on the college campuses. It empowers people to go beyond. And it has nothing to do with Donald Trump.”
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“I want to be more — a little bit more specific about what we’re talking about here, because I definitely think, to the congressman’s point, there are specific things that are being said on these campuses that are anti-Semitic. But the idea that AOC and, I mean, I don’t know, Congresswoman Ilhan Omar are engaging in those activities. I’m not sure —” show-anchor Abby Phillip said before Sununu cut her off saying, “They showed up on those campuses. They showed up to the campuses. They were there on those campuses speaking out.”
The House of Representatives passed a resolution in February 2023 to remove Democratic Rep. Ilhan Omar of Minnesota from the House Foreign Affairs Committee on a party-line 218-211 vote. Omar was one of 13 Democrats who voted against a resolution to condemn antisemitism in December 2023.
“But here’s what I’m saying. But do you understand what I’m saying? If they are — if they show up on college campuses to protest, you know, the situation in Gaza, is that, are you saying, automatically the same thing as uttering anti-Semitic words?” Phillip asked, with Sununu responding, “Yes, they’re anti-Semitic. Make no mistake about it. Their words are absolutely anti — and this is all based in anti-Semitism.”
After some back-and-forth, Sununu offered to go through some of Omar’s past comments about Israel, which include a claim that Israel “hypnotized the world” in a 2012 tweet that has since been deleted.
“Do we have to go through the statements?” Sununu asked Phillip, who responded, “I am talking about on college campuses, you know, because I think that there is a difference between protesting —”
“The history of Ilhan Omar is very clear,” Sununu shot back, cutting Phillip off. “She’s been very explicit.”
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