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In the midst of their midterm results coverage Wednesday evening, CBS Evening News and NBC Nightly News touted the diversity of the Democratic Party’s field of winners. But in the process, they celebrated the election of Congresswoman-elect Ilhan Omar of Minnesota. The problem? She’s been accused of anti-Semitism because of her anti-Israel stance.
In a November 2012 tweet, Omar lashed out at the Jewish state of Israel by playing on anti-Jewish tropes. “Israel has hypnotized the world, may Allah awaken the people and help them see the evil doings of Israel. #Gaza #Palestine #Israel” she wrote. And in a response to someone who called her out as a “Jew hater”, Omar called Israel an “apartheid” state.
Despite this incident, CBS national correspondent Jim Axelrod touted Omar for becoming “the first-ever Somali-American elected to Congress.” “Born in Somalia, she and her family fled the violence of civil war when she was eight. After years in a refugee camp in Kenya, she immigrated here when she was 12, learning English in three months,” he added.
On NBC, congressional correspondent Kasie Hunt rolled Omar into a report that touted gains for Democratic women. “The newest Congress featuring more than 100 women, a new record. Among them, the first Muslim women, Michigan's Rashida Tlaib and Minnesota's Ilhan Omar,” she praise.
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