Ilhan Omar and Joe Rogan, a short play

Scenario 1: A day on Twitter

Glenn Greenwald: Republicans are criticizing Rep. Omar that Israel has hypnotized the world by showing that members of Congress put Israel’s interests ahead of Americans’ free speech rights.

Rep. Omar: It’s all about the Benjamins.

Scene 2, later on Twitter

Crowd: It’s Semitic! You are repeating the classic trope that vile Jews buy off native political leaders for their own interests while being unfaithful to their country.

Rep. Omar: I was talking about AIPAC’s influence in Congress.

The (Media) Chorus: He was talking about AIPAC having too much influence in Congress, what’s the big deal?

Scene 3: Several years later, somewhere in America on a popular podcast

Rogan: “Did you see that’s crazy? [Adam Schiff] Ilhan sits next to Omar, where he apologizes for talking about all the Benjamins? Which is just a matter of money. He is talking about money. This is not an anti-Semitic comment, I don’t think so. Benjamin’s money. … The idea that Jews are not involved in finance is ludicrous. That’s like saying Italians don’t like pizza. It’s fucking stupid.”

Scene 4: Later during the same podcast episode

Rogan: You can’t criticize Israel without someone calling you anti-Semitic.

Scene 5

Narrator: Omar wasn’t talking about AIPAC, and Rogan wasn’t criticizing Israel.

the end