Ilhan Omar Endorses Bernie Sanders, Both Would Like to Punish Israel
Former Vice President Joe Biden is still the Democrat Party's leading candidate according to the faithful in Iowa who will vote first in the party's caucuses next year.
A new ABC News-Washington Post poll shows Biden holds 28 percent with Sen. Elizabeth Warren second at 23 percent. Sen. Bernie Sanders is third at 17 percent and Mayor Pete Buttigieg is fourth with 9 percent.
Democrats see Biden as the strongest leader among the top candidates. Those polled believe he has the best chance to defeat President Trump in the election next year.
Warren has come under fire from fellow Democrats along with Republicans and many economists over her high-priced government health care plan.
Meanwhile, it has been said, "politics makes strange bedfellows." That all-too-common saying during election season was at play again Sunday night as socialist candidate Sanders received Rep. Ilhan Omar's (D-Minn) endorsement.
Omar appeared with Sanders at a rally at the University of Minnesota and spoke on his behalf.
She claimed there must be a "movement of working-class" that must be built for Sanders to win the White House next year.
"Here's the cold truth: We can't achieve any of these goals if we don't build a movement that is representative of all of our aspirations, all of our pain, and all of our shared trauma," Omar said. "That is why we must build a mass movement of the working class that transcends faith, age, gender, and background."
Omar also said President Sanders will "fight against western imperialism and fight for a just world."
"I am proud to stand with the son of a Jewish refugee who survived genocide," Omar said, referring to Sanders. "The acknowledgment of pain and suffering is personal for both of us. The fight for human rights is undeniable. And when we recognize injustices of the past and present, whether it is genocide against Jewish people, Armenians or Rwandans or Bosnians or Native Americans or more," she continued.
Sanders didn't appear bothered by Omar's past anti-Semitic and anti-Israel statements, unlike many of his colleagues in Congress. She supports the Boycott, Divestment and Sanctions movement against Israel and has repeatedly criticized the government of America's top democratic-ally in the Middle East.
Sanders has also criticized the Jewish state during his campaign. Just last week, he said he would cut US aid to Israel and give the money to Palestinians in Gaza.
When it was his turn at the microphone, Sanders thanked Omar by name.
"Thank you, Ilhan Omar," he said.
"People say that Ilhan and I make an odd political couple. But in fact, there is really nothing odd about it at all," he continued. "Ilhan and I share a common link as the descendants of families who fled violence and poverty, and who came to this country as immigrants. But that is not just my story or Ilhan's story -- that is the story of America."
Sanders also said he and Omar both were working to eliminate "all student debt in America," and make all public colleges "tuition-free."
Omar's fellow Democrat progressives Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez and Rashida Talib have also endorsed Sanders.
The poll also found concerns among Democrat voters about Sanders' health. More than 4 in 10 Democrats believe he's not in good enough health to serve as president, according to The Post.
