Ilhan Omar Faces Fresh Accusations of Anti-Semitism Over Michael Bloomberg Tweet

Democratic Rep. Ilhan Omar has been accused of making a veiled anti-Semitic comment in a tweet about Michael Bloomberg.

While sharing an article on Twitter about Leon Cooperman expressing his support for "fellow billionaire" Bloomberg's possible run for president, Omar commented "I wonder why?" alongside a thinking face emoji.

Cooperman, the billionaire chairman and CEO of Omega Advisors, told CNBC on Friday that he would back the former mayor of New York City for president should he enter the race for the White House. He added that he would also help with fundraising as long as Bloomberg stuck with his moderate policies.

But while some viewed Omar's reaction to the article as an observation about "billionaires sharing similar political views", others believe she is implying that Cooperman's support for Bloomberg is because they are both Jewish—and accused her of anti-Semitism.

"Omar very carefully making an anti-Semitic tweet with just enough vagueness to claim that ackshually she meant it was about the Benjamins and not about religion," wrote Josh Jordan on Twitter. "But everyone knows what she meant, which is why she continues to do it."

Lahav Harbov, a senior contributing editor for The Jerusalem Post, also took to Twitter to accuse Omar of making an anti-Semitic remark. "I'm going to keep calling this kind of antisemitic dog whistle out regardless of the color, religion or political affiliation of the person making it," she wrote.

However, others came to Omar's defense and said the backlash was the latest effort to "twist" the congresswoman's words.

Dylan Williams, the senior vice president of pro-Israel group J Street, responded to Harkov saying her comment is "exactly the kind of bad-faith, weaponized accusation that has clouded and eroded understanding of the very real threat posed by anti-Semitism."

He added: "It doesn't make us safer (to say the least) and endangers those falsely accused."

Leah Greenberg added on Twitter: "The latest effort to twist @IlhanMN's words and impute anti-semitism to what's obviously a pretty standard observation about billionaire's sharing similar political views is outrageous. It should be given no credence whatsoever."

Omar retweeted Greenberg's tweet, adding: "Yep."

The 38-year-old Minnesota congresswoman has repeatedly faced allegations of anti-Semitism since she was elected.

Earlier this year, Omar was forced by Democratic leaders to apologize for a tweet claiming that some lawmakers' support for Israel was "all about the Benjamins." Omar said she was "grateful for Jewish allies and colleagues who are educating me on the painful history of anti-Semitic tropes" in her apology on Twitter in February.

She also sparked a furor over her views on Israel, including a tweet from 2012 where she said "Israel has hypnotised the world." In her apology, she said she regretted the "unfortunate word choice," but said that criticizing the Israeli government is not the same as criticizing Jews.