Swalwell Slams House GOP for Moving Against Ilhan Omar After Previously Touting Its Support for Kanye

• Rep. Eric Swalwell tore into the House GOP for removing Rep. Ilhan Omar from a powerful committee.
• Swalwell pointed out that an official GOP Twitter account praised Kanye West and took months to delete the message.
• The California Democrat said Republicans should “look in your own damn mirror” for antisemitism.

Democratic Rep. Eric Swalwell lit into House Republicans on Thursday for seeking to Rep. Ilhan Omar from her seat on the powerful House Foreign Affairs Committee over perceived antisemitic comments while waiting for weeks to tweet a praising Kanye West after the rapper proclaimed he would go “death con 3 on Jewish people.”

“So, I thought we’re going to hold someone accountable for antisemitism, surely it’s the author of this tweet,” Swalwell said on the House floor while pointing to a large printout of the tweet published on the official House Judiciary GOP account. “Kanye. Elon. Trump. October 6, written by Chairman Jim Jordan. October 8, what does Kanye say? I’m going to declare ‘death con 3’ on the Jews. So surely, this tweet came down? It was deleted? No. Two more months it was kept up. Two more months.”

Swalwell then added, “So don’t come here looking at us for antisemitism. Look in your own damn mirror before you ever come over here.”

—Nicholas Wu (@nicholaswu12) February 2, 2023

House Republicans later voted to remove Omar from the panel.

In response to Swalwell’s comments, Russell Dye, the communications director for the House Judiciary Committee panel, said that Jordan, who now chairs the powerful committee, does not run the panel’s Twitter account. 

Insider previously reported that the tweet stayed up even after West began increasingly antisemitic comments that ended up with unbridled praise for Adolph Hitler. It was amid West’s praise for Hitler that the tweet was deleted.

“Mr. Swalwell is lying much like he lies about his relationships with Chinese spies,” Dye added, a reference to a 2020 Axios report that the California Democrat was targeted by a Chinese intelligence agent.

Swalwell has repeatedly claimed he did nothing wrong and ended all communication with the suspected spy after meeting with the FBI. House Republicans cited that report in a separate effort to remove Swalwell from the House Intelligence Committee. 

The GOP had long vowed that it would punish the Minnesota Democrat for a series of comments she made in 2019, including that US support for Israel was “all about the Benjamins baby.” Members of both parties condemned Omar’s remarks and pointed out that the “Benjamins” comment furthered an old antisemitic trope. Omar has apologized for her past statements. 

Just before the vote, Omar said that the punishment was aimed at silencing her voice. She vowed that the setback would not stop her.

“My leadership and voice will not be diminished if I am not on this committee for one term,” Omar said on the House floor. “My voice will get louder and stronger and my leadership will be celebrated around the world as it has been.”