House Republican Drafts Censure of Omar for ‘Pro-Genocide’ Remark

A House Republican said on Tuesday that he was drafting a resolution to formally rebuke Representative Ilhan Omar, Democrat of Minnesota, for recent comments in which she suggested that some Jewish students at Columbia University were “pro-genocide.”

Representative Don Bacon, Republican of Nebraska, does not yet have a timeline for releasing his censure resolution against Ms. Omar, a spokeswoman said.

But Mr. Bacon said the remark amounted to antisemitism from the congresswoman, a progressive firebrand and one of two Muslim women in the House, who has drawn criticism in the past for incendiary comments.

“Folks can protest Israel, but don’t blame Jewish American students for Israel,” Mr. Bacon told Axios, which earlier reported his censure plans. “That is by definition antisemitism.”

Ms. Omar made the statement while visiting the Morningside Heights campus in New York to stand in solidarity with the pro-Palestinian protesters, including her daughter, who is a student activist there. In an interview, she was asked about Jewish students who have faced antisemitism on campus.

“I think it is really unfortunate that people don’t care about the fact that all Jewish kids should be kept safe,” she said. “We should not have to tolerate antisemitism or bigotry for all Jewish students, whether they’re pro-genocide or anti-genocide.”

The leader of the Anti-Defamation League called it slander that could lead to violence against Jews and demanded an apology. Ms. Omar responded by pointing to a report about anti-Palestinian and anti-Arab harassment at the University of Massachusetts Amherst to explain her use of the term “pro-genocide.”

Speaker Mike Johnson, Republican of Louisiana, called her language “detestable.”

At a time when