Chelsea Clinton praises Rep. Ilhan Omar after anti-Semitism accusations: She ‘demonstrated extraordinary leadership’
Chelsea Clinton was on The View Wednesday, and nearly two months after she called out Rep. Ilhan Omar on Twitter for what she saw was “anti-Semitic language” the former first daughter had nothing but praise for the congresswoman.
Omar, who became the first Somali-American woman elected to Congress in November, sparked backlash in February for controversial tweets about pro-Israel lobby AIPAC. Clinton was among those who chimed in on Twitte
Co-signed as an American. We should expect all elected officials, regardless of party, and all public figures to not traffic in anti-Semitism.
— Chelsea Clinton (@ChelseaClinton) February 11, 2019
When Clinton was called out by a commenter for “piling on” Rep. Omar instead of “reaching out to her,” she replied that she would reach out to Omar. The congresswoman welcomed the conversation:
👋🏽 Chelsea - I would be happy to talk. We must call out smears from the GOP and their allies. And I believe we can do that without criticizing people for their faith.
I look forward to building an inclusive movement for justice with you. 💪🏽 https://t.co/EGA9NQfBCi— Ilhan Omar (@IlhanMN) February 11, 2019
The two apparently stayed true to their word and ended up sitting down for what Clinton described as a “lovely and productive conversation.”
“I actually think congresswoman Omar demonstrated extraordinary leadership in listening to her constituents and others' advice, and really said that she would continue to make points she thought was important… and yet not do it using language that she understood was harmful,” Clinton said, later adding: “She's demonstrating leadership that I wish we would see from more politicians, candidly, particularly at this moment.”
Clinton’s tweet also resulted in a viral video confrontation with NYU students at a vigil for victims of the Christchurch mosque shooting, who blamed rhetoric like hers for the attack.
On Wednesday’s show, Clinton addressed the confrontation and received praise from co-host Meghan McCain for keeping her composure. Co-host Sunny Hostin asked the former first daughter what she would say to those students today if given the chance.
“We have so much pain and anger in our country and our world right now, and I think we do have a real responsibility to listen to each other,” Clinton said. “I think it's more important now than it's maybe ever been in my lifetime.”
Check out what happened when Meghan McCain and Joy Behar argued Democratic Socialism on The View:
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