Tag: Georgetown Institute of Politics and Public Service

The anti-hate resolution approved by Congress sparked a clash of opinions between Federalist senior editor Mollie Hemingway and Georgetown Institute of Politics executive director Mo Elliethee on Thursday night’s "Special Report" All-Star panel. What was supposed to be a condemnation of anti-Semitism in reaction to controversial remarks by U.S. Rep. Ilhan Omar, D-Minn, developed into a broad resolution that condemned all forms of hate. It passed with support from an overwhelming majority, although 23 Republicans opposed it because it didn’t solely address anti-Semitism -- nor did it explicitly condemn Omar. Elliethee began by condemning Omar’s recent remarks and expressing that Omar should have been mentioned in the resolution. But he also defended the congresswoman, who has “received a lot of hate” in recent weeks, pointing to a West Virginia poster linking Omar to the Sept. 11, 2001, terror attacks. “To be able to take a strong stand against all forms of hate I think is a good thing and I think the Republicans who’ve been trying to make hay out of this have trapped themselves because every single ‘no’ vote, two dozen members of the House voted ‘no,’ they were all Republicans who are now all on record against a resolution condemning all hate,” Elliethee told the panel. Hemingway pushed back, calling Elliethee's assessment “very unfair,” and adding that many on Capitol Hill were hoping for an “actual resolution” condemning Omar's rhetoric, but that type of resolution “didn’t happen.” “The rise of anti-Semitism is not something anybody should be thinking about what’s good politically out of it because it is a really bad thing,” Hemingway said. “You’re seeing a rise of anti-Semitism in the Democratic Party right now, but it’s a problem that’s happening globally.” Meanwhile, Washington Examiner commentary writer Tom Rogan invoked British Labour Party leader Jeremy Corbyn and his “personal” problem with anti-Semitism and raised the red flag that “lines get blurred” between discussing Israel policy and invoking anti-Semitic conspiracies pushed by progressive Democrats.