CNN's Chris Cuomo: Trump treats Ilhan Omar's bigotry differently because she's Muslim

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Rep. Ilhan Omar apologizes for tweets after facing accusations of anti-Semitism

Democratic congresswoman's apology came after a flurry of bipartisan criticism; Doug McKelway reports from Washington.

CNN anchor Chris Cuomo blasted President Donald Trump for his swift condemnation of Rep. Ilhan Omar, D-Minn while keeping “silent” on Rep. Steve King, R-Iowa.

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On Tuesday, the president called on Omar to resign after she suggested on Twitter that Republicans who support Israel are bought by groups like AIPAC.

Cuomo criticized Omar’s tweets and called the question whether House Democrats should do more to punish the freshman congresswoman a “legit question.” He then dismissed the “futile” comparison of her remarks versus King’s, who was stripped from his committees after he defended the terms “white supremacist” and “white nationalist.”

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He did, however, target the president for remarks he made to the Republican Jewish Coalition in 2015, where he told them he didn’t want their money and that they “want to control your own politician.”

“Now why is it different? Is it because Omar is a Muslim and wears a hijab? I hear a lot of that and it’s not right,” Cuomo said.

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“For the sake of argument, let’s assume that the president now thinks bigotry is not to be tolerated. That’s why he moved on Omar. So where was he on Steve King? Not a damn word about years of ugly, exclusionary, divisive talk. His whole party moved on King — all of Congress — and this president said nothing,” the CNN anchor continued.

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When asking why Trump was silent on King’s remarks, Cuomo told his viewers he either “agrees” with King’s bigotry or that he “saw no upside” given the constant criticism from the left and the media.

“So when it comes to Omar, the president’s selective outrage is transparent,” Cuomo added. “Ignoring bigotry unless it suits you politically is wrong. Mr. President, we thought you learned this lesson. There are not good people on both sides when it comes to bigotry and there is no such thing as bigotry that’s okay. What you ignore, you empower. And in your case, what you ignore, you may have to own.”