A tragic terror attack in the heart of Washington, D.C., has reignited a firestorm of political and moral scrutiny—this time directed at Rep. Ilhan Omar (D-MN) after she declined to respond to a reporter’s question about the murder of two Israeli Embassy staffers outside the Capital Jewish Museum.
The victims, Yaron Lischinsky and Sarah Lynn Milgrim, were gunned down on Wednesday night as they left a Jewish American Committee event. The young couple, both diplomats and soon to be engaged, are now being remembered not only as victims of a targeted act of terror, but as casualties in a broader, more ideological war that has spilled over into American soil.
When approached on Capitol Hill the following day, Rep. Omar offered no response. Her abrupt “I’m going to go for now” was all she said before walking away, triggering widespread backlash, particularly given her controversial history regarding antisemitism and remarks on terrorism.
JUST IN: Ilhan Omar REFUSES to condemn the assassination of Israeli diplomats in DC last night
Omar is an ISLAMIC TERRORlST who needs to be deported back to Somalia.
NOT IN CONGRESS. pic.twitter.com/sstQadHDQg
— Nick Sortor (@nicksortor) May 22, 2025
While Omar later issued a brief statement on X saying she was “appalled” and extending “thoughts and prayers,” critics argue the timing and tone fell well short of the leadership expected from a sitting member of Congress—especially one who has frequently waded into the deep end of Middle East discourse.
White House Press Secretary Karoline Leavitt didn’t mince words during Thursday’s press briefing. She denounced Omar’s dismissal of the question as “despicable,” tying it to a broader trend of antisemitic rhetoric tolerated or embraced within the far-left wing of the Democratic Party.
“We’ve seen a rise in antisemitic, pro-Hamas protests… and the Democratic Party has turned a blind eye,” said Leavitt. “The president has made it very clear that such hatred will have no place in our country.”
Rep. Omar’s reluctance to respond publicly has reignited attention to her prior statements that critics call sympathetic to terror groups and dismissive of American and Israeli suffering.
.@MaryMargOlohan: “Do you or President Trump have a message to politicians like Ilhan Omar, who this morning explicitly avoided condemning this act of terror?”@PressSec: “It’s despicable…the President has made it very clear that such hatred will have no place in our country.” pic.twitter.com/g9BXuhCqLh
— Daily Wire (@realDailyWire) May 22, 2025
In 2021, Omar sparked outrage by equating the U.S. and Israel to Hamas and the Taliban in a social media post, saying, “We have seen unthinkable atrocities committed by the US, Hamas, Israel, Afghanistan, and the Taliban.”
Her comments prompted a public rebuke from then-House Speaker Nancy Pelosi and other top Democrats, who condemned her for drawing “false equivalencies” between democratic nations and recognized terrorist organizations.
And who could forget the 2019 CAIR banquet, where Omar referred to the September 11 attacks as “some people did something”—a phrase that drew heavy backlash, especially from 9/11 families like Nicholas Haros Jr., who lost his mother in the attacks and forcefully rejected Omar’s casual framing.
Israeli Foreign Minister Gideon Sa’ar called the D.C. murders a “horrific terrorist attack” and pointed directly at the “toxic antisemitic incitement” that has surged globally since Hamas’s massacre on October 7.
“This is the direct result… of rhetoric that dehumanizes Israelis and Jews,” he said, warning that more attacks may follow if such rhetoric continues unchallenged.
