Secretary of State Mike Pompeo on Wednesday decried “the dark wave of anti-Semitism rising in Europe and the United States” and called on countries to “go to the barricades against bigotry.”
“Our challenge is especially urgent as the hot rhetoric of prejudice cloaks itself in the language of the academy or diplomacy or public policy,” Pompeo said while appearing alongside Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu in Jerusalem. “Sadly, we in the United States have seen anti-Semitic language uttered even in the great halls of our own Capitol. This should not be.”
Pompeo made the remark weeks after controversial comments by Rep. Ilhan Omar that were widely condemned as anti-Semitic. In mid-February, the Minnesota Democrat faced bipartisan backlash for suggesting Republican support of Israel is fueled by donations from the American Israel Public Affairs Committee, a prominent pro-Israel group. She apologized publicly for the statements.
“Anti-Semitism is real and I am grateful for Jewish allies and colleagues who are educating me on the painful history of anti-Semitic tropes,” Omar said. “My intention is never to offend my constituents or Jewish Americans as a whole. We have to always be willing to step back and think through criticism, just as I expect people to hear me when others attack me for my identity. This is why I unequivocally apologize.”
Omar reignited controversy weeks later by saying at an event, “I want to talk about the political influence in this country that says it is OK for people to push for allegiance to a foreign country.” Several influential House Democrats decried the remark and the House passed a resolution condemning anti-Semitism and anti-Muslim discrimination in the wake of the controversy.
House Minority Leader Kevin McCarthy was condemned in October 2018 for posting a tweet that suggested three Jewish, billionaire Democratic donors were attempting to “buy” the 2018 midterm elections.
“We cannot allow Soros, Steyer, and Bloomberg to BUY this election! Get out and vote Republican November 6th. #MAGA,” McCarthy wrote on Twitter just a day after authorities intercepted what appeared to be a pipe bomb sent to Soros’ New York home. The California Republican later deleted the post.
Rep. Steve King was stripped of his committee assignments in January after making racist comments to The New York Times. Those comments, in which the Iowa Republican questioned why “White nationalist, white supremacist, Western civilization” were “offensive,” were widely denounced by lawmakers on both sides of the aisle. King also faced condemnation and calls for censure in the wake of the Pittsburgh synagogue shooting for his embrace of anti-Semitic conspiracy theories and far-right nationalist candidates as well as his criticisms of diversity and immigration.
Pompeo’s statement on anti-Semitism, in which he noted that “all nations, especially those in the West, must go to the barricades against bigotry,” came despite the Trump administration’s own shaky record on calling out hatred and discrimination.
As recently as Monday, when asked about the threat of white nationalism in the wake of the New Zealand terrorist attack, which left at least 50 dead, Pompeo did not use the term.
“Look, the threat from extremists that comes from a broad spectrum is real,” he replied.
President Donald Trump had downplayed the threat of white nationalism when asked about it on Friday.
“I think it’s a small group of people that have very, very serious problems, I guess,” he said.
However, Trump has targeted the Muslim community with policies like the so-called “Muslim ban” that barred travel to the US by citizens of seven countries – five of which are majority Muslim. The President has used dehumanizing language in describing Muslim extremist attackers, but descriptors like “animal” are often absent when he discusses non-Muslim attackers.
While Trump condemned the October 2018 attack on the Tree of Life synagogue in Pittsburgh, in which 11 were killed, as “an anti-Semitic attack,” the comments stirred debate over his own rhetoric.
After the rally in Charlottesville, Virginia, in August 2017 where neo-Nazis chanted that “the Jews will not replace us” and a white nationalist demonstrator drove his car into counter-protesters, killing a woman, Trump claimed that there were “very fine people on both sides.”
“I think there is blame on both sides,” Trump said. “You had a group on one side that was bad and you had a group on the other side that was also very violent. nobody wants to say it, but I will say it right now.”
When he was campaigning for president, Trump repeatedly faced scrutiny over his rhetoric, including telling a group of Jewish Republicans, “You’re not gonna support me because I don’t want your money. You want to control your politicians, that’s fine.
“Five months ago I was with you,” Trump said, pointing to his recent past as a much sought-after political donor who filled the campaign coffers of both Republicans and Democrats. “I do want your support, but I don’t want your money.”
At the time, the head of the Anti-Defamation League said. “Here, context is everything.”
“In this case he is speaking to a group of Jewish Republicans, a significant portion of whom are businesspeople. We do not believe he intended his comments regarding negotiations and money to relate specifically to their Jewishness, but we understand that they could be interpreted that way,” Anti-Defamation League CEO Jonathan Greenblatt said.
CNN’s Stephen Collinson, Clare Foran, Ashley Killough, Sunlen Serfaty. Jeremy Diamond, Betsy Klein, Kate Sullivan, Eli Watkins and Manu Raju contributed to this report.
