On her Fox News show Monday night, Laura Ingraham hosted a conversation dedicated to further demonizing Reps. Rashida Tlaib (D-MI) and Ilhan Omar (D-MN) over their planned visit to — and subsequent ban from — Israel.
Guest Qanta Ahmed, a member of the Council on Foreign Relations, did not hold back in painting the congresswomen as terrorist sympathizers, claiming that they have “Holocaust envy.”
“They are using Islamist tactics to invert reality,” Ahmed said. “What they are seeking —they have a grotesque Holocaust envy, and just hear me out on that. Islamists envy what they see as the special mark upon the Jewish people that is the membership of genocide. It’s a terrible thing that befell the Jewish people, but Islamists envy it.”
Ahmed suggested that Tlaib and Omar in fact “deny the Holocaust” while they “deny the existence of Israel,” all in pursuit, she claimed, of appearing “the most persecuted.” She did not clarify how they can both deny the Holocaust and envy it.
“There is nothing genuine about these politicians,” Ahmed insisted.
Ahmed is a frequent contributor to Fox News. She identifies as Muslim, but is almost always in agreement with those criticizing other Muslims. Ahmed has tried to police Omar’s Muslim beliefs, calling her a “disgrace to Islam,” and last week she offered Fox & Friends her endorsement of Israel permanently barring Omar from entry.
While Ahmed has in the past been critical of President Donald Trump’s Muslim travel bans, it has only been because she believes them to be overbroad because they don’t distinguish between “Islamists” and other Muslims.
She has otherwise defended Trump. In fact, in the wake of a shooter targeting New Zealand mosques and citing Trump in his manifesto, Ahmed nevertheless insisted that his administration is not Islamophobic.
Just last week, she praised Trump for being “extremely aggressive” to protect “religious freedom” — “of Christians.” Christianity is important to protect, she explained, because it’s what props up democracy in Muslim-majority countries. “If Christianity is not surviving, democracy is not surviving,” she said.
It’s important to note that Ingraham did not seem to acknowledge Ahmed’s reference to “Holocaust envy” nor her accusation that the congresswomen are Holocaust deniers. Instead, she simply agreed with Ahmed’s premise that more Democratic leaders should be calling out the congresswomen.
Omar has previously called out advertisers that support Fox News not to “underwrite hate speech.”
