GOP Congressman Spent His Week Harassing Muslim Colleague On Twitter

02/01/2019 08:33 pm ET

Rep. Lee Zeldin’s Twitter attack against Rep. Ilhan Omar is a classic racist dog whistle.

By Jessica Schulberg

Rep. Lee Zeldin (R-N.Y.) spent his first week at work since the government reopened harassing a Muslim colleague on Twitter with baseless suggestions that she hates Jewish people.

It started on Tuesday, when he found out he had been chosen as the ranking member of the House Foreign Affairs Subcommittee on Oversight and Investigations. Exciting! But he couldn’t fully rejoice in the honor of being the second-most-powerful member of a House subcommittee because he also learned that he would have to work on the panel alongside freshman Rep. Ilhan Omar (D-Minn.).

“Crazy to watch what House Dems are empowering/elevating,” Zeldin tweeted.

. . .

Omar responded dismissively to his tweet, and Zeldin dug in. “Your anti-Semitic & anti-Israel hate is strong & wrong,” he posted on Twitter late Wednesday. The next day, he tweeted an audio recording of a voicemail in which a random unidentified caller said, “I wish Hitler would have done his fucking job.” Zeldin, who is Jewish, tagged her in the post and asked if she disagreed with the caller’s rant.

More:
https://www.huffingtonpost.com/entry/lee-zeldin-ilhan-omar-racist-dog-whistle_us_5c54d2b5e4b0871047537f47