Rep. Ilhan Omar, D-Minn., expressed anger and frustration on Friday, directing her ire at President Biden and Democratic leadership for their stance on Israel during the conflict with Hamas.
Omar’s outburst occurred during a press conference outside the U.S. Capitol, where she was joined by other members of the “Squad,” a group of far-left lawmakers, as they called for a ceasefire in the ongoing war.
She questioned why President Biden was discussing the release of hostages and evacuating American citizens from Israel while not expressing a similar urgency to save the thousands of Americans stranded in Gaza. She accused Israel of dropping more bombs on Gaza in the last ten days than the entire U.S. did in a year in Afghanistan.
Omar further raised concerns about the different treatment of American lives, questioning whether an American in Gaza was less important than one in Israel. She criticized the president for advising American citizens to move to the southern part of Gaza while not urging Israel to avoid bombing that area, where Americans might be present.
The congresswoman found it “painful and scary” to work alongside fellow Democrats whom she felt were unfairly blaming all Muslims for the violence. She did not specify which Democrats she was referring to, but she might have been alluding to comments made by Rep. Ritchie Torres, D-N.Y., who previously criticized members of the “Squad” for their response to the Oct. 7 Hamas attack.
Omar expressed frustration at the lack of condemnation from caucus leadership or other members of Congress and questioned why simple calls for peace and a ceasefire faced opposition.
Fox News Digital reached out to the White House and House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries, D-N.Y., for comment.
Prior to her appearance at the press conference, Fox Business reporter Hillary Vaughn questioned Omar about her support for a ceasefire in the face of terrorists seeking to annihilate the Jewish population. Omar didn’t respond to the questions, instead dismissing the reporter as she boarded an elevator.
On the previous day, Omar retracted her remarks blaming Israel for the Gaza hospital explosion, which U.S. intelligence determined was not caused by an Israeli Defense Forces projectile. However, she did not issue an apology.