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Lauren Underwood Refuses To Comment On Ilhan Omar’s Anti-Semitism
NPR asked Underwood four times if she has anything to say about Omar's comments, but Underwood refused to respond
From Underwood’s recent interview with NPR:
INSKEEP: The day we met Lauren Underwood was the day last week when the House voted to criticize anti-Semitism. The resolution answered remarks by Underwood’s fellow freshman Ilhan Omar of Minnesota.
Did she go too far?
UNDERWOOD: I don’t have a comment on that.
INSKEEP: You don’t?
UNDERWOOD: I don’t.
INSKEEP: You’ve been pretty frank on every other issue. What makes…
UNDERWOOD: That’s why I’m being frank on this one.
INSKEEP: Then why – what do – you mean you don’t know what to think about it? Or…
UNDERWOOD: I said I don’t have a comment on it.
Unlike Underwood, some other Democrats were quick to condemn Omar’s remarks. Chicago Mayor Rahm Emanuel penned an op-ed in The Atlantic, saying:
But Omar is crossing a line that should not be crossed in political discourse. Her remarks are not anti-Israel; they are anti-Semitic.
Whether consciously or not, Representative Omar is repeating some of the ugliest stereotypes about Jews—tropes that have been unleashed by anti-Semites throughout history. She is casting Jewish Americans as the other, suggesting a dual loyalty that calls our devotion to America into question.