Pence slams 2020 Democrats for skipping AIPAC
Vice President Mike Pence on Monday slammed the multiple Democratic presidential candidates who are skipping the annual AIPAC policy conference, telling the group’s Washington gathering that any White House hopeful should stand with Israel.
"Let me be clear on this point, anyone who aspires to the highest office in the land should not be afraid to stand with the strongest supporters of Israel in America," Pence said. "It is wrong to boycott Israel and it is wrong to boycott AIPAC."
Top Democratic presidential candidates — Kamala Harris, Beto O’Rourke, Elizabeth Warren and Bernie Sanders — declined to attend the event hosted by the American Israel Public Affairs Committee. One potential Democratic presidential candidate, New York City Mayor Bill de Blasio, spoke at the event on Monday.
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Democratic presidential candidates have traditionally attended the gathering ahead of elections, including Hillary Clinton in both 2008 and 2016. Former President Barack Obama also attended the event during his 2008 campaign.
This year, the liberal group MoveOn called on Democratic 2020 hopefuls to skip the conference due to the group’s link to Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, whose agenda closely aligns with that of U.S. President Donald Trump, and claims that AIPAC has engaged in Islamophobia.
Democrats’ absence at AIPAC also comes as liberals have grown increasingly willing to criticize Israel over its relationship with neighboring Palestinians. Despite some critiques of Israel and Netanyahu on the left, top Democratic lawmakers — House Leader Nancy Pelosi and Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer — are slated to speak at AIPAC.
Among the highest profile criticisms of Israel have been those of freshman Rep. Ilhan Omar (D-Minn.), whose suggestions that lawmakers who are supportive of Israel hold dual loyalties and beholden to donations from AIPAC have been condemned by many as anti-Semitic. The House has twice passed resolutions condemning anti-Semitism and hate speech following the controversy surrounding Omar’s comments. Omar has apologized for some of her remarks.
Although Omar has apologized for some of her remarks and has been rebuked by her party’s leaders, Trump, who has at times been reluctant to reject the support of hate groups, has seized on the controversy to claim that "Democrats hate Jewish people." Other Republicans have urged Omar’s removal from the House Foreign Affairs Committee, a call Pence echoed on Monday.
"Anti-Semitism has no place in the Congress of the United States of America," Pence said, adding that "anyone who slanders" Israel "should never have a seat on the Foreign Affairs Committee on the United States House of Representatives."