Democrats used to be happily united in their opposition to Trump. It’s getting more complicated.
She snidely refers to him as “Individual 1.” She has denounced him for “sabotaging the economy.” And she has accused him of engaging in “dehumanizing rhetoric.”
But this week, freshman Rep. Ilhan Omar (D-Minn.) has been President Donald Trump’s dream come true.
Amid a punishing run of bad news for Trump — ranging from his failed North Korea summit to the scathing testimony of his former lawyer Michael Cohen to an imminent political rebuke by the Republican Senate — Omar has instead consumed the political headlines, giving Democratic lawmakers a taste of the scandal and controversy that has dogged Republicans for the past two years.
Omar’s blunt anti-Israel statements, which even many Democrats call anti-Semitic, have not only fractured her party but have created a rival political narrative to Trump’s mounting setbacks. Where a few weeks ago, cable television networks cut to House Speaker Nancy Pelosi’s live commentary about Trump and Russia, this week they carried her uncomfortable words about seething fellow Democrats.
“It’s a gift,” said Sen. John Cornyn (R-Texas), asked about the chaos in the House Democratic Caucus.
It’s also something of a new development in the Trump era —and a very welcome one for the White House.
Democrats have spent two years gleefully united in their bitter opposition to Trump, voting down Republican legislation and putting their GOP colleagues on the spot over every over-the-top presidential tweet. But victory in the 2018 midterm elections, which delivered Democrats control of the House chamber, is already spotlighting cleavages within the party — including on the subject of Israel — that have gotten scant attention over the past two years.
While Omar’s remarks may fade from the headlines, there’s little reason to think Democrats will finish arguing among themselves anytime soon. Another young freshman, Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (D-N.Y.), is building Trump-like star power and putting Democratic leaders on the spot with far-left rhetoric. Meanwhile, a crowded 2020 Democratic primary could feature bitter internecine fights on everything from the wisdom of a “Green New Deal” to talk of “Medicare for All” to America’s posture towards Israel.
As Pelosi and Democratic leadership have come under pressure to rebuke Omar, for example, three of the party’s presidential candidates — Sens. Bernie Sanders (I-Vt.), Kamala Harris (D-Calif.), and Elizabeth Warren (D-Mass.) — pushed back. The result was a watered-down resolution introduced on Thursday that did not single out Omar by name and condemned both “anti-Semitism” and “anti-Muslim discrimination.”
Republicans pounced, arguing that a Democratic lurch to the left — and flirtations with socialism and anti-Semitism — has given their party a comeback opportunity in the suburbs, where they were thrashed in last year’s midterm elections.
The House GOP-aligned Congressional Leadership Fund super PAC on Thursday sent a memo to donors arguing that lawmakers like Omar and Ocasio-Cortez are opening up a path for the GOP to retake the House in 2020.
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“It’s a gift,” said Sen. John Cornyn (R-Texas), asked about the chaos in the House Democratic Caucus, w/ @MZanona @burgessev https://t.co/YjiruZf6lP
— Eliana Johnson (@elianayjohnson) March 8, 2019
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