Former State Department spokeswoman and House seat hopeful Morgan Ortagus has called out "anti-Semitic rhetoric" by Republican Tennessee state Senator Frank Niceley.
Nicely had earlier commented on Ortagus being excluded from the GOP ballot for the 5th District congressional seat.
"Anti-Semitism is the oldest and one of the most vile forms of hatred on this earth, and Sen. Niceley should be ashamed of his repeated anti-Semitic rhetoric […] Senator Niceley’s repulsive words could not be more clear in disparaging the Jewish people. This racism cannot stand", Ortagus said.
The former spokeswoman, who converted to Judaism in 2011, was earlier endorsed by former president Donald Trump, but was disqualified from the ballot as she only moved to the district a year earlier. Ortagus is considering challenging that decision.
Niceley alleged that the former president would not be disappointed much with her removal from the ballot, hinting that he only endorsed Ortagus in the first place is because Trump's daughter Ivanaka, also a convert to Judaism, and her Jewish husband Jared Kushner asked him to.
"I don’t think Trump cares one way or the other. I think Jared Kushner — he’s Jewish, she’s Jewish — I think Jared will be upset. Ivanka [Trump] will be upset. I don’t think Trump cares", Niceley said.
The Tennessee state senator rejected the notion that his comments were anti-Semitic, insisting that he has "nothing but respect for the Jewish people". Niceley accused "a fake news reporter" of taking his words "out of context".
State Lieutenant Governor Randy McNally insisted that Niceley had nothing "anti-Semitic in his heart", but described his comments about Ortagus as "clearly insensitive". McNally advised the legislator to be "more careful" with his words in the future.
It was the second time in the recent history that Niceley had landed in hot water over inappropriate comments. He recently suggested that homeless people should follow the example of noon other than Adolf Hitler.
Niceley said the former führer of the Third Reich had secured a place in the "history books" despite living on the streets in his early years — while improving his public speaking skills at the same time.
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