Embattled Rep. Ilhan Omar got into a ridiculous back and forth on Wednesday with the US special envoy to Venezuela — asking the diplomat a question and then blatantly ignoring his response.
The Minnesota Democrat asked Elliott Abrams about his past dismissal of the 1981 El Mozote massacre — where more than 800 civilians in El Salvador were killed during the Salvadoran Civil War — as communist propaganda.
“You said that US policy in El Salvador was a fabulous achievement. Yes or no. Do you still think so?” Omar asked.
Abrams replied: “From the day that President [José] Duarte was elected in a free election to this day, El Salvador has been a democracy. That’s a fabulous achievement.”
“Yes or no. Do you think that massacre was a fabulous achievement that happened under our watch?” Omar asked.
“That is a ridiculous question, and — no!” Abrams said.
But Omar wouldn’t accept his answer.
“I will take that as a yes,” she said bizarrely.
The fiery exchange took place during a House Foreign Affairs Committee hearing about the US response to the crisis in Venezuela — less than a week after Omar was blasted over tweets many deemed anti-Semitic.
She later apologized for claiming a pro-Israeli lawmaker was influenced by Jewish money.
Omar began the hearing Wednesday by questioning why Abrams should be seen as credible, considering his guilty pleas for withholding information from Congress over the Iran-Contra scandal when he worked in the Reagan administration. He was pardoned by President George H.W. Bush in 1992.
“I fail to understand why members of this committee or the American people should find any testimony that you give today to be truthful,” Omar said.
Abrams was named special envoy to Venezuela last month, shortly after the Trump administration recognized opposition leader Juan Guaido as the country’s legitimate president over Nicolas Maduro.
Posts
No comments:
Post a Comment