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Rep. Ilhan Omar apologized for using “anti-Semitic tropes” in a tweet after Democratic leaders criticized her
House Speaker Nancy Pelosi and several other Democrats accused the member of Congress of echoing anti-Semitic stereotypes in tweets suggesting that money fuels America’s support for Israel.
Within hours of her tweets, powerful figures from both sides of the aisle reprimanded Omar for what they saw as her engaging with harmful conspiracy theories accusing Jewish people of secretly using money to control the government for their own gain.
By the afternoon, Omar had apologized, saying she was “grateful for Jewish allies and colleagues who are educating me on the painful history of anti-Semitic tropes.”
From the opinion section: Read Tom Gara on the aftermath of this classically Trumpy situation, and why Ilhan Omar is learning the wrong lesson from the Donald Trump era.
Virginia Gov. Ralph Northam says he’ll launch a “listening tour” amid the blackface scandal
While Northam continues to resist calls to step down after a racist photo on his yearbook page resurfaced, his advisers are finalizing plans for him to tour the state and engage different communities in conversations about race.
A source told us Northam is telling people privately that if Virginia’s legislature puts a bill on his desk that provides the authority to bring down Confederate statues, he will sign it.
Meanwhile, black officials in Virginia have a list of demands for the governor and the attorney general if they won’t resign.
SNAPSHOTS
A Trump supporter attacked journalists after the president blasted the media at his Texas rally. Video shows the man bursting into the press corral at the El Paso event, pushing a BBC photographer, and yelling “fuck the media” as the crowd jeers.
The founder of Nigel Farage’s new Brexit party has a history of anti-Muslim comments. When he resigned from UKIP, Farage said his former party had become “obsessed with Islam.” Now, he has thrown his “full support” behind a new party founded by former UKIP candidate Catherine Blaiklock, who has repeatedly made anti-Muslim comments.
Michelle Carter is going to jail for urging her boyfriend to kill himself. Carter will begin serving a 15-month jail term, a year and a half after she was convicted of involuntary manslaughter for encouraging her boyfriend’s suicide through text messages and phone calls.
Beto O’Rourke calls the Green New Deal “the best proposal” he’s seen for addressing climate change. The former Texas representative, who is mulling a presidential bid, told a crowd at a Trump counter-rally in El Paso that he is “excited” by the broad roadmap for the program.
Jennifer Lopez responded to the criticism she received after participating in a Motown tribute at the Grammys. Viewers noted that Lopez — a Puerto Rican woman — was prominently featured in the homage to a record label that launched the careers of legendary black entertainers. Lopez said, “You can't tell people what to love. You can't tell people what they can and can't do — what they should sing or not sing.”
A secret Facebook group of French Twitter personalities has been coordinating harassment against women
The group, Ligue du LOL, or LOL League, has been operating for about a decade. Its members are mainly male French journalists.
Now the group has been accused of coordinating a yearslong campaign of abuse against women writers, feminist activists, people of color, and LGBT people.
So far, three journalists have been suspended, one has resigned, and one has been fired since the accusations were made public online. People working at four of France's biggest news outlets have been implicated.
This guy’s story of his first day in a new job will make you cringe and laugh at the same time
When Jon Caña started his new role as a digital marketer, he found a gift box full of company swag and a card. This made him feel very welcome.
Later in the day, Caña came to his desk to find what he thought was another gift: a bouquet of flowers. He was so touched, he decided to take some photos with the flowers.
Months later, someone finally told him: Those flowers weren’t for him. They were for someone else going on maternity leave.
Caña tweeted his story, which has since gone viral and has other people cringing as they share their first-day snafus.