Are her claims that Israel is purchasing “allegiance to a foreign country” simply another in a long history of divided-loyalty accusations made over the course of our history? Or should they be otherwise considered?
We have never been a people united by a common ancestry, so there have always been claims about Catholics or Muslims or people from countries we may be currently hostile to as fifth columnists. It’s certainly a cheap shot that has been resorted to time and again. And accusing people we disagree with as being in the pay of some nefarious party like the Koch brothers or international bankers or foreign powers is a low-effort expedient for the intellectually lazy.
But does it rise to the level of bigotry, or is it a genuinely held or politically convenient belief? The Democrats have a bit of a conundrum to deal with. Give her the treatment the GOP gave Mr. King, or just issue a general bigotry-is-bad statement and hope it blows over? Or take her seriously and demand hearings and investigations? Or go on the offensive, and treat criticism of Ms. Omar as it’s own form of prejudice?