CNN Called Out for Ignoring Democratic Anti-Semitism

(The Washington Free Beacon) - Former White House Director of Legislative Affairs Marc Short accused CNN Tuesday of allowing anti-Semitism to go unchallenged in the Democratic Party. Short made the comments during an appearance on CNNs New Day with Alisyn Camerota and John Berman. He pointed to the race for the open seat in Minnesotas 5th Congressional District where the candidate has all sorts of anti-Semitic language in her past and shes going to be the nominee sic. He suggested mainstream media did not take leftwing anti-Semitism seriously. He asked: Do you even know her name? Do you even know who she is? Camerota would not offer a name in response. Weve reported on it she replied without elaborating steering the discussion back to Trump. Short was referring to Minnesotas state representative Ilhan Omar who is the Democratic nominee for Congress in Minnesotas 5th Congressional District. Omar is running to fill Keith Ellisons (D. Minn.) vacant seat. CNN has covered Omars campaign albeit overwhelmingly in uncritical and glowing terms. One profile painted her as a progressive barrier-breaker. It made brief mention of allegations of anti-semitism noting she denies the charge. It promptly moves on to how Omar has been faced with Islamophobic attacks. The others focused on her identity and on support for her campaign not on the serious accusations against her. Short is not the first to accuse Omar of anti-Semitism. Omar previously claimed that the Israeli government was an Apartheid regime. She also accused Israel of evil conduct. In one notable tweet she claimed Israel had hypnotized the world. Israel has hypnotized the world may Allah awaken the people and help them see the evil doings of Israel. #Gaza #Palestine #Israel Ilhan Omar (@IlhanMN) November 16 2012 Omar denies she is anti-Semitic defending her support for the Boycott Divestment and Sanctions (BDS) movement which seeks to isolate the state of Israel and force it to change its policies. Omar has also been accused of taking a soft stance on terrorism. In 2017 she opposed a bill that would deny convicted terrorists life insurance payments. She also opposed a bill prohibiting parents from mutilating their daughters genitalia a practice still common in some parts of the world including Omars native Somalia. Both Republican and Democrat groups have voiced alarm at Omars likely election victory. The Republican Jewish Coalition listed Omar among a number of racists and anti-Semites running as Democrats in 2018. The Jewish Democratic Council of America refused to endorse her. Oddly Omars campaign has also fended off questions about Omars marital status. The questions followed accusations and evidence brought by conservative organizations that she had married her brother to assist with the citizenship process. In an interview with the Associated Press last month Omar and her campaign … declined to provide the AP with a list of her siblings. Omar called the accusations absolutely false and ridiculous. She tried to clarify explaining shed married and separated from two men neither of whom was a relative. She claimed she was again with the first man and was in the process of aligning her government paperwork with her religious marital status. Her challenger Republican Abdimalik Askar raised doubts about Omars version of events. The truly odd thing about the story is how Omars campaign has chosen to respond he said. Instead of having her brother explain who he married or producing any sort of documentation Omar released a statement calling the accusations a racist witch-hunt.