The politics of House Democrats' struggle with an anti-Semitism resolution

This is a rush transcript from "Special Report," March 7, 2019. This copy may not be in its final form and may be updated.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

REP. NANCY PELOSI, D-CALIF., HOUSE SPEAKER: I feel confident that her words were not based on any anti-Semitic attitude. I do not believe that she understood the full weight of the words.

REP. DOUG COLLINS, R-GA: I am here with my friend from New York, debating a resolution that all of us should have learned in kindergarten. Be nice. Don't hate.

REP. RASHIDA TLAIB, D-MICH.: I know that the Congresswoman Ilhan Omar really tried to push back against oppression. And as a Palestinian I can tell you there are real, actual, factual evidence to show that there are human rights violations.

REP. JIM CLYBURN, D-S.C., HOUSE MAJORITY WHIP: Make no mistake, our caucus is unified. But unity does not mean unanimity.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

BAIER: It's an anti-hate resolution it turned out to be. It started out as anti-Semitic based on the comments of Congresswoman Omar from Minnesota. The House voting on this resolution overwhelmingly, 407 to 23, but basically just condemns all anti-Semitic, anti-Muslim discrimination, bigotry against all minorities contrary to the values of the U.S.

In the meantime, many Democrats tripped over themselves on talking about this resolution. We just saw there Congressman Clyburn told "The Hill" "There are people who tell me, well, my parents are holocaust survivors, my parents did this. It's more personal for her," Congresswoman Omar. "I've talked to her. I can tell you she is living through a lot of pain," talking about her time in Somalia.

It has been an interesting week for Democrats on this issue. Let's bring in our panel, Tom Rogan, commentary writer for the "Washington Examiner," Mollie Hemingway, senior editor at "The Federalist," and Mo Elleithee, executive director of the Georgetown Institute of Politics. Mo, your thoughts about how this was handled and the end result here that critics say was pretty watered down.

MO ELLEITHEE, EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR, GEORGETOWN INSTITUTE OF POLITICS: I join those who criticize the congresswoman for her comments. I think it is possible to criticize Israel and its policies as a nation without using language that is offensive to many people and seen as anti-Semitic. And I actually wish that the resolution had called her out by name.

Having said that, at the end of the day you had a resolution that condemned all forms of hate. And in this case not only did she say some things that were viewed as anti-Semitic, but in response, she received a lot of hate. There were posters in West Virginia being disseminated in the state capital that connected her to 9/11 terrorists. So to be able to take a strong stand against all forms of hate I think is a good thing. And I think the Republicans who have been looking to make hay out of this have set a trap for themselves, because every single no vote, two dozen members of the House voted no, they were all Republicans who now are on record against a resolution condemning all hate.

BAIER: Even though this didn't point out the original offense or specifics.

ELLEITHEE: It didn't point out the original offense, and I think it should have. But at the end of the day when you have got a chance, and there are a lot of Democrats who wanted this to be stronger but didn't vote no. They still voted yes because they wanted to take a strong stand against hate.

BAIER: So you're saying the political issue. Mollie?

MOLLIE HEMINGWAY, SENIOR EDITOR, "THE FEDERALIST": I think that's very unfair. Obviously, people were hoping that there would be an actual resolution condemning the anti-Semitism of one of the members of Congress and that didn't happen. I think that's what people were frustrated by.

But I do agree this has been such a disaster for Democrats that I think Republicans are saying, gosh, it's really bad over there. But in fact the rise of anti-Semitism is not something anybody should be thinking about what's good politically out of it because it is a very bad thing.

You're saying the rise of anti-Semitism in the Democratic Party right now, but it's a problem that's happening globally. And we have particular concern about this because of our recent history because people took that sin of anti-Semitic and used it to commit a genocide of 6 million Jews. That's in our recent history -- or 6 million people including millions of Jews, and that's in our recent history and it's some that -- there's a reason why people are sensitive particularly around this topic.

And it's not just about having a difference policy, about what to do with regard to Israel. I think the reason why people were so frustrated by the comments that they heard or so sickened by the comments they heard were that these were actually comments against Jews and using some of the most vicious anti-Semitic tropes against the Jews.

BAIER: You mention the world situation, in the U.K., and we did a piece of this, it's a real issue now. Take a listen.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

LUCIANA BERGER, BRITISH PARLIAMENT MEMBER: When I joined the Labour Party I thought I was joining a broad church. And it's now clear that that broad church, which for many of us in the Labour Party no longer exists.

MIKE GAPES, BRITISH PARLIAMENT MEMBER: It's not just the politics. It is whether you can feel a moral integrity to go along with things that you can no longer justify or accept.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

BAIER: So Tom, it's real. It's not just here and the politics of here and what Omar said and what the Republicans did. In Great Britain they're dealing with it.

TOM ROGAN, COMMENTARY WRITER, "WASHINGTON EXAMINER": It's very substantive. And we see the hate crime incidents, violent criminality is attached to it. But I do think the binding factor here, Jeremy Corbyn I think outside observers would say has more personal issues in terms of inklings towards anti-Semitism than say, Nancy Pelosi, for sure. But the problem at the different elements of this party, Jeremy Corbyn really representing the left of the British equivalent of the Democratic Party, but with Ilhan Omar, with Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, this idea that somehow there is the conspiracy behind circles that whether there is disagreement with Israeli policy or the idea of Israeli money, or the idea of plotting, those lines get blurred. And I think that perception factor, regardless of the reality, is why it's so important that the historical examples of anti- Semitism we have seen, whether it be pogroms, the Holocaust, or violent criminality, that the first basic point you take is no equivocation, unequivocal, keep it simple, stupid. And this wasn't simple as much as it spoke to other moral concerns, and that is a problem I think.

BAIER: And Mo, what is interesting on the presidential front, you had three 2020 Democrats out on the trail defending Ilhan Omar. Senator Kamala Harris, Bernie Sanders, Elizabeth Warren, a sticky thicket on the campaign trail.

ELLEITHEE: I think, again, to be able to say, and there were a couple of them that I thought used some curious language, trying to conflate criticism of Israel with anti-Semitism, because, again, I think those are two very separate issues. The prime minister of Israel was just indicted. Israel -- you can criticize the government without criticizing the Jewish people.

And I think it is important to make that distinction, and I think folks need to do a better job of that. But let's not make this a problem of the left. You had white supremacist marching in Charlottesville screaming "Jews will not replace us."

BAIER: And we pointed that out last night on the panel.

ELLEITHEE: No one on the left defended that. In fact, the only people who even came close to that were decidedly not on the left. And so I think anti-Semitism is a huge problem --

BAIER: Let me just say this. How the Republicans handled Steve King, critics would say they didn't do it fast enough, they didn't do it enough.

ELLEITHEE: A decade late.

BAIER: No, no, I'm saying. But they did do something. They took them off committees, they rebuked him. They look at this and say why isn't it that way for Omar?

ELLEITHEE: It took about -- I'm sorry.

HEMINGWAY: And that's what I think is interesting. It's part of a pattern that we have seen in recent weeks. You had the situation in Virginia were top government officials were supporting infanticide, accused of sexual assault, racism. And there were some initial inklings that there was going to be accountability there, but then everybody circled the wagons and let that all go away.

ELLEITHEE: No one circled the wagons in Virginia.

HEMINGWAY: The top three Democratic officials are still in office.

ELLEITHEE: There's no recourse to remove them from office. Every Democratic officeholder in Virginia has called them to step down.

HEMINGWAY: They've been very silent. It's just like what happened with this situation. At first you heard people condemning the anti-Semitism and then they all backed away. And so you don't want that to become the pattern of the Democratic Party, that they are tolerating these types of things that would've previously been considered beyond the pale.

ELLEITHEE: I don't see anyone tolerating anti-Semitism, I don't see anybody tolerating the instances in Virginia. Democrats have done a very good job of policing their own on these issues, and I think the fact that they are ought to be something Republicans can learn from moving forward as they struggle with a lot of these same issues themselves.

BAIER: Clearly, they want to be on something else this week.

ELLEITHEE: I think everyone did, yes.

BAIER: We are looking live at the courthouse in Alexandria, Virginia. We still don't have an answer on the sentencing. We don't know have a time. We don't know what the judge is doing, actually. He's in resource. Paul Manafort has spoken to the judge there. We are waiting. We're waiting with you. We will talk about 2020 if we don't have a decision. If not, we'll talk about this after the break.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

HOWARD SCHULTZ, FORMER STARBUCKS CEO: If the Democrats decide in their wisdom to nominate a far left person, Donald Trump will get reelected.

JOHN DELANEY, D-PRESIDENT CANDIDATE: I don't embrace socialism. I think the genius of America in many ways is that we have embraced capitalism and all of its power to innovate and create jobs.

SEN. BERNIE SANDERS, I-VT, PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: We will have a Medicare for all, single-payer system.

We are going to make public colleges and universities tuition free.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

BAIER: Bernie Sanders continuing his tour, heading to Iowa tonight. Peter Doocy, you saw him there earlier. As you look at the 2020 Democratic hopefuls, they are expanding. There are more and more of them, the exploratory are likely in, the possibles are possible, and Joe Biden, the biggest of those. But one key member saying he's not running in the possible category, and that is Sherrod Brown, the senator from Ohio. We're back with the panel. Tom, as you look at this field, really, Biden is the biggest question mark.

ROGAN: Biden is the biggest question mark. And as much as we were saying in the first panel about the difference between Nancy Pelosi and the establishment and the rising populist force of the far left, we see this with the Democratic primaries were Joe Biden really, from my point of view, seems to be the only traditionalist Democrat at least in terms of what these candidates are saying now.

And so the question for the party then becomes whether Biden wins or not, can there be a unified candidate who can bring together these very disparate strands, talking about those fundamentals that Democrats seem to expect now on the populist left of Medicare for all, et cetera, but in a way that doesn't allow President Trump to say this is what it will mean for your taxes.

BAIER: "New York Times" is out, saying 95 percent in, but the five percent is a big hurdle, so maybe the five percent is a little bit more than the five percent. Here is Joe Biden and Eric Trump responding.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

JOE BIDEN, FORMER VICE PRESIDENT: They, the most important people in my life, want me to run.

ERIC TRUMP, PRESIDENTIAL TRUMP'S SON: If you want to run Biden against my father, I think it's going to be an easy victory, because all you need to do is line up stats, not soundbites, but quantifiable stats. He beats him all day long.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

BAIER: As you look at the Real Clear Politics standings right now, this is largely about name recognition, but Joe Biden and Bernie Sanders take almost 50 percent of this at this point.

HEMINGWAY: Joe Biden had that great everyman appeal that worked well for him throughout his political career. It's what he could win states like Pennsylvania and Michigan. It's also, though, why it was so surprising to see him get bullied last week by an actor who said that he was wrong for not saying Mike Pence was evil, and he agreed that he was wrong for not saying that, which is exactly the opposite of what he should be doing at this time.

But Bernie Sanders does also have that, and we see that Bernie Sanders has that excitement, he has his authenticity about him. He might have embraced a lot of questionable ideas in his history, including support for the Soviet Union in the 1980s, but he's very consistent about it, and he really who he presents as.

BAIER: Is their fear in the Democrat Party, Mo, about Bernie Sanders being this popular, about raising this much money, about getting these big crowds? Is there somehow an inherent threat for the party that Sanders is that popular?

ELLEITHEE: I wouldn't characterize anything as fear at this point. It's a large field, and it makes sense that the one guy who has done this before - -

BAIER: Wat into the primaries.

ELLEITHEE: Right, exactly. He is the only announced candidate who has run for president before, so he's going to have high name I.D., he's going to pull in the big crowds. But he's not a runaway frontrunner at this point. And so I think there's plenty of time for other candidates to make their case.

I do agree with Mollie that both Bernie and Biden have that authenticity about them as well as at everyman appeal. They both come across -- I think the fundamental question that most voters ask themselves is does this person get me, will they get my back? And both Bernie and Biden in very different ways answer that question in a way that comes across as very authentic. No one else is really known yet. And so the campaign is going to be their opportunity, their interview, to answer those two questions. So I think it's anybody's game at this point.

BAIER: Over-under on the number of candidates?

ELLEITHEE: I think we're looking at about 15.

HEMINGWAY: I'll take 20.

ROGAN: Twenty.

BAIER: Twenty-two.

When we come back, could it be the Manafort sentencing?

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

BAIER: This is a Fox News alert. We just received word at the end of this show that Paul Manafort has been sentenced by the judge for bank fraud and other charges for roughly four years in prison. He was facing 19-and-a- half to 24. Four years in prison. We expect to hear all the details of this, what the judge said. Just coming down the second we went back from break. Paul Manafort, the former Trump campaign chairman, and obviously he is facing other charges. Next week it's the sentencing on other charges. But this has nothing to do with Russia or collusion or anything to deal with the Trump campaign. But it deals with bank fraud and the handling of some of his business in the past.

Quickly, Mollie, surprised by that?

HEMINGWAY: No. But it is -- the judge did make a point of saying that it had nothing to do with Russia. Four years sounds like a much more reasonable sentence than the 20 years that he was facing.

BAIER: Again, that -- Martha MacCallum will have more on this breaking story. That's it for this “Special Report”. Of course, breaking at the end.

Fair, balanced, and unafraid. "The Story" hosted by Martha, taking the breaking news --

MARTHA MACCALLUM, ANCHOR: Yes.

BAIER: -- starts right now.

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