I'm not sure what Mika is slipping into Joe Scarborough's cornflakes of late, but I kind of like it.
Scarborough used to be a big player in these loaded games the GOP does to weaponize their own bigotry. You know how it goes: the GOP pretends outrage for some slight, some slip of the tongue, and then when you point out that they've said something just as bad (or worse), they sneer and call you a "snowflake" and proudly boast of being "politically incorrect."
And so it is with freshman congresswoman Ilhan Omar. When she (admittedly, poorly done) criticized AIPAC and Israel's influence on American politics (a totally legitimate area that we need a considered political discussion), she gave the right the weapon they needed to yell, "Anti-Semitism!" over and over. That she is a Muslim woman of color that they can smear is just an added bonus.
But as Joe Scarborough (who, again, KNOWS HOW THIS GAME IS PLAYED) points out, it completely ignores a long and storied history of rampant and unapologetic anti-Semitism by the right, from Donald Trump all the way down.
"The hypocrisy of Fox News, showing anything that Representative Omar is doing and not show Donald Trump, not showing Kevin McCarthy's tweet, which basically said, 'Jew money is trying to steal this election.' How about Jim Jordan putting a sign by a Jewish Democratic donor's name. In front of Tom Steyer; it's Tom with a dollar sign. Because the Republicans have been shameful, whether you're talking about bigotry towards Jews or Muslims or Hispanics. So Fox News is doing that. What a joke."
Like when Trump put out an ad with a clear anti-Semitic undercurrent to it. Or as John Amato wrote last month, Trump's hypocrisy on calling out anti-Semitism is unparalleled. Where was Fox News for that? Cheering him and normalizing his bigotry.
It's just unfortunate that the Democratic Party gets played like this over and over and constantly runs defense for such hypocritical gamesmanship.
