By Bruce S. Ticker
PHILADELPHIA — It must be only a matter of time before Team Trump accuses Ilhan Omar of overcooking hamburgers (a Seinfeld reference, to be explained for TV viewers who miss Seinfeld episodes).
The Democratic congresswoman and our president, along with his Republican allies in Congress, overcooked their rhetoric when they traded accusations over immigration policies and anti-Semitism, needlessly ramping up tensions and further eroding their own credibility.
Donald J. Trump tossed down the gauntlet the other week and Omar swiftly supplied Trump and his fellow Republicans with more ammunition, enough to charge her with overcooking hamburgers…er, bashing Jews.
Due to Omar’s ongoing attacks against Israel, Trump injected her into his speech before the Republican Jewish Coalition in Las Vegas when he proclaimed: “Special thanks to Representative Omar of Minnesota. Oh, I forgot, she doesn’t like Israel. I’m so sorry.”
Assailing Trump’s immigration policies, Omar characterized Stephen Miller as “a white nationalist. The fact that he still has influence on policy appointments is an outrage.”
Miller is a senior policy adviser at the White House who pressed for separation of immigrant families and closing our border with Mexico, which is slightly more than 100 miles south of Santa Monica, his hometown. And Miller is Jewish, which sparked the next chapter in this pointless narrative.
A day or two after the April RJC meeting, our president couldn’t let it stay in Vegas. The Jewish Telegraphic Agency reported that Trump on Twitter quoted Republican consultant Jeff Ballabon, who said on Fox News Channel, “What’s completely unacceptable is for Congresswoman Omar to target Jews, in this case Stephen Miller.”
Then Rep. Lee Zeldin, a Jewish Republican who represents eastern Long Island, piled on with the tweet, “During my time in Congress before @Ilhan Omar got here, I didn’t once witness another Member target Jewish people like this with the name calling & other personal attacks. In 2019 though, for @IlhanOmar, this is just called Monday.”
Huh? It would not surprise if Omar criticized Miller because he is Jewish, but where is the evidence? Miller’s uncle disdains him for his arch-conservative attitudes. So does most of Santa Monica and the rest of Los Angeles, a liberal Jewish bastion.
Zeldin could well be the Uncle Leo of his family, the Seinfeld character who told Jerry over lunch: “I told them medium rare, it’s medium…I bet that cook is an anti-Semite. They don’t just overcook a hamburger, Jerry.”
Perhaps Omar achieved a two-fer, a blow against both anti-immigration policies and the Jewish people. However, there is no convincing reason to believe that anti-Semitism was a motive. Miller does work out of the White House and in the process has sought to bar Latin American immigrants from entry here. Doubtful that Omar would have held her tongue if he was not Jewish.
It was a stretch for Omar to dub Miller “a white nationalist,” especially since white nationalists are known to discriminate against Jews.
Trump and Zeldin’s accusation linking the Miller name-calling with anti-Semitism is not fooling Jews or anyone else, especially when Zeldin charges Omar with targeting “Jewish people.” This is brazen exploitation of a volatile issue that can only create more hostility no matter who says it.
Zeldin is every bit as repugnant as Omar when she actually does “target Jewish people.” Both of them demean whatever dignity remains in those hallowed halls.
Trump clearly appreciates Omar’s divisive role in Congress. She is the political gift that keeps on giving and her congressional district covering Minneapolis and its inner suburbs is a Democratic base. Yet Trump should not count on her as an election issue next year.
Before either Trump or Omar can run for re-election, they both must get re-nominated by their respective parties. Omar is not guaranteed winning her Democratic primary next year, and already some constituents are upset with her, especially many residents of St. Louis Park, the main hub of the Jewish community.
Her anti-Israel attitudes were known before she won the 2018 primary, which she won with 48 percent of the vote. Jews there hoped to convince her to re-adjust her feelings about Israel. Instead, Omar’s Israel-bashing ballooned.
Omar’s critics have a reasonable chance of ousting her next year. Rep. Rashida Tlaib, another harsh critic of Israel, defeated five rivals when she was nominated last year – receiving 31 percent of the vote with her closest opponent running with 30 percent of the vote. Both are Muslims who claim they are being singled out for attacks because of their faith.
Trump may be biased against Muslims, but it is Omar’s perceived anti-Semitism that brought her onto the president’s radar screen. If Omar is defeated in her primary, Trump will sorely miss the anti-Semitism issue that she has handed him on a platter. Like overcooked hamburger.
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Ticker is a freelance writer based in Philadelphia.
Let’s be clear , Millers uncle David Glosser stated in 2018 and I quote “ I Know Because I’m His Uncle. If my nephew’s ideas on immigration had been in force a century ago, our family would have been wiped out. “
So would you say that he is white nationalist tendencies or just a plain racist ?