The Thursday edition of Andrea Mitchell Reports on MSNBC was in full spin mode as Republicans prepared to kick Rep. Ilhan Omar off the Foreign Affairs Committee for her history of anti-Semitic statements, but according to Mitchell it was simply “criticism of Israel.” Meanwhile, Washington correspondent Yamiche Alcindor alleged that Republican hypocrisy is the real story.
Mitchell kicked off her show by explaining, “This breaking news, now you've just watched it on the House floor. A heated debate is under way leading up to Republicans planning to hold that vote this hour to remove Democratic Congresswoman Ilhan Omar from the Foreign Affairs Committee over her frequent criticism of Israel. She later apologized for some of those-- her comments but stood by others. Omar is a Somali refugee and one of the first Muslim Americans to serve in Congress.”
What is the criticism behind allegations of hypnotism, dual loyalty, and financial puppeteering? And what does being a Muslim and Somali refugee have to do with anything?
Still, a few minutes into the segment, Mitchell returned to the latter idea and, ignoring that Adam Schiff and Eric Swalwell are neither Muslims nor immigrants from Somalia, asked Alcindor, “So, Yamiche, Congresswoman Omar is saying that she's being targeted because she's an immigrant, because she was Somali-born. She showed that picture of herself as a 9-year-old refugee.”
Omar has also previously falsely accused the American troops who fought the Battle of Mogadishu killed “thousands” of Somalis during the U.N. mission to combat the 1993 famine in that country. Somehow the fact-checkers never got around to that one.
As for Alcindor’s response, she leaned heavily into the “critics say” genre of analysis, “And there are some people who are critics of this action by Republicans who agree with her, who say there's a special kind of discrimination that black women, that immigrants face and she was saying that she wanted to use her voice to remind Republicans that even if she's taken off this committee, that she's still going to be able to be someone who can go to the podium, who can talk and use her power as a sitting member of Congress to still be able to share her views.”
Alcindor then claimed the real story is that Republicans are hypocrites and that you can trust her on this because she’s a reporter, “I think as a reporter, I'm very interested in the fact that Republicans are saying it's her anti-Semitic comments that are—pushed them over the edge and she has to be removed from the Foreign Relations Committee because you have former President Trump who has said all sorts of things that people see as anti-Semitic.”
Alcindor should stay on topic because she probably does not want to take that argument to its logical conclusion.
This segment was sponsored by Lincoln.
Here is a transcript for the February 2 show:
MSNBC Andrea Mitchell Reports
2/2/2023
12:01 PM ET
ANDREA MITCHELL: Good day. I'm Andrea Mitchell in Washington. This breaking news, now you've just watched it on the House floor. A heated debate is under way leading up to Republicans planning to hold that vote this hour to remove Democratic Congresswoman Ilhan Omar from the Foreign Affairs Committee over her frequent criticism of Israel. She later apologized for some of those-- her comments but stood by others. Omar is a Somali refugee and one of the first Muslim Americans to serve in Congress.
…
MITCHELL: So, Yamiche, Congresswoman Omar is saying that she's being targeted because she's an immigrant, because she was Somali-born. She showed that picture of herself as a 9-year-old refugee.
YAMICHE ALCINDOR: And there are some people who are critics of this action by Republicans who agree with her, who say there's a special kind of discrimination that black women, that immigrants face and she was saying that she wanted to use her voice to remind Republicans that even if she's taken off this committee, that she's still going to be able to be someone who can go to the podium, who can talk and use her power as a sitting member of Congress to still be able to share her views. She's, of course, part of The Squad and of course, they are someone -- a group of people who have gotten the media's attention. I think it's important to note as Eugene reported, Congresswoman Ilhan Omar, she apologized for this, no one is making excuses for her. She's saying she was wrong and she's moved on.
I think as a reporter, I'm very interested in the fact that Republicans are saying it's her anti-Semitic comments that are—pushed them over the edge and she has to be removed from the Foreign Relations Committee because you have former President Trump who has said all sorts of things that people see as anti-Semitic. Just recently he was posting that he thought American Jews weren't being supportive of Israel and that they weren't being grateful enough to him as a president who had done more for Israel than other people. Really questioning the loyalty of American Jews. He also, of course, had that dinner with Nick Fuentes and Kanye West. So, I think, in some ways there's a double standard here that is clearly on display. They’re going after Ilhan Omar while embracing former President Donald Trump.
