Lee Zeldin responds to Ilhan Omar accusing him of ‘bigotry’

Rep. Lee Zeldin (R-N.Y.) accused Rep. Ilhan Omar (D-Minn) of trying to “poison” a newly formed caucus after she accused him of “bigotry” in an endorsement of the caucus.

Zeldin announced the newly formed Congressional Black-Jewish Caucus at an American Jewish Committee (AJC) global forum with Reps. Debbie Wasserman Schultz (D-Fla.) and Brenda Lawrence (D-Mich.).

AJC is a global Jewish advocacy organization.

Zeldin, who launched the caucus with two House Democrats, said the group is aimed at “building bridges.” 

{mosads}”Be helpful, accurate & better. Unite; don’t divide or try to poison like this latest personal attack. This is bigger than us & we have to be better than this,” Zeldin tweeted Thursday.

This new Caucus is a positive, bipartisan push to build bridges between 2 groups. Be helpful, accurate & better. Unite; don’t divide or try to poison like this latest personal attack. This is bigger than us & we have to be better than this. https://t.co/1Ai7jzScKp

— Lee Zeldin (@RepLeeZeldin) June 6, 2019 

The tweet is in response to Omar’s earlier one where she clarified that her endorsement of the caucus was not an endorsement of “Zeldin’s bigotry.” 

Zeldin was among the lawmakers who called out some controversial remarks Omar made that he and others said were anti-Semitic. He went on to be one of 23 Republicans to vote against an anti-Semitism bill in March, arguing it did not go far enough by not identifying Omar.