Thread by @SethAMandel

Gonna take this opportunity to briefly explain that the Squad's coordinated talking point--talk to us privately not publicly--is disingenuous and false. Ron notes the hypocrisy of Cori Bush but it's been true of Omar as well, and it's important

https://twitter.com/kampeas/status/1403127255061180422?s=19

Omar's antisemitic tweet about Israeli hypnosis was in 2012. As her local political career took off, Jewish community members tried talking to her about this stuff. She ignored (obviously) and then eventually won her Congress seat in 2018.

She defended both the tweet and BDS, and then after joining Congress arranged a trip to Israel and the territories with a group that had spread the famous blood libel and republished a white supremacist screed against Jews. Here's where things got rocky.

I personally know the ppl, or some of them anyway, who reached out to Omar to talk to her privately. These folks were prominent enough Democrats that they came with access and clout--they genuinely could smooth things over within the party. There's a key part here:

These Dems working with Omar privately were already sticking their necks out, because if you checked their Twitter feeds you'd see plenty of urging of Republicans to PUBLICLY take a stand against Steve King, Donald Trump, whoever. So they were already feeling like hypocrites.

Omar had--I can tell you this without doubt--ppl who could've opened any door, even in Israel, for her, in addition to folks with ties to Midwest Jewry. Now their reputations were on the line too because they acceded to her preference for 'talking to us privately.'

Guess what hapoenes next! She turned around and doubled down on her comments and her refusal to change anything. The ppl talking to her privately were utterly humiliated now. She played them and they were crushed at the bad faith.

Now these folks looked like fools because she got them to NOT criticize her publicly, and they were unable to make any progress with her privately. Now their credibility had taken a huge hit because the record shows them silent in the face of their own party's antisemitism.

So what had been happening continued hapoening: Omar got Jews to hold their tongues publicly to make her more comfortable. She then three them under the bus. This 'talk to us privately' is a game and a lie: she's been doing this for years.

Correct: AOC has played the same game, and it has been a flat-out lie. Ppl burned up credibility for them over and over.

https://twitter.com/Alex_Z_01/status/1403151351043997696?s=19

And when Josh Gottheimer fell for it, meeting with them privately, Tlaib and Omar badmouthed him to the Intercept for a hit piece based on their *private* meeting theintercept.com/2019/05/08/jos…

This is the game they've been playing. It's morally depraved and it has hurt the reputations of congressmen and Dem party officials every time. This is deeply demented stuff.

Anyway, as the man used to say: and now you know the rest of the story.