TOP TALKER — The spat between Rep. Lee Zeldin (R-NY) and his colleague on the House Foreign Affairs Committee, Rep. Ilhan Omar (D-MN), continued for the second day in a row. The New York Jewish Republican shared on Twitter audio of an anti-Semitic voicemail that was left at his congressional office after he criticized the Democratic House leadership for appointing Omar to the HFA committee.

Rep. Lee Zeldin tells JI: “We got calls like this all day long today and many were worse than what was in that voicemail. I went through K-12, college, law school, and 4 years on active duty in the Army and I never once experienced anti-Semitism. In the last several years though, this anti-Israel, anti-Semitic hatred is only increasing in American politics, on college campuses, and in the halls of Congress. That’s why I’m calling on the House to immediately pass my resolution condemning this anti-Israel, anti-Semitic hate. Let’s not elevate it. Let’s not empower or echo it. Let’s eliminate it.”

— Omar responded to Zeldin on Twitter: “This is heinous and hateful. I too am flooded with bigoted voicemails and calls every day. Maybe we could meet and share notes on how to fight religious discrimination of all kinds? Maybe over Somali tea, in your old office which I happen to be in now.”

Ilhan Omar Addresses Anti-Israel Comments on ‘Daily Show’ — by Matt Wilstein: “’With that tweet, what I finally realized is the realization that I hope that people come to when we’re having a conversation about white privilege,’ Omar said on The Daily Show Thursday night. ‘People would be, like, ‘I grew up in a poor neighborhood, I can’t be privileged. Can you stop saying that? I haven’t benefited from my whiteness!’’ But in both cases, she said it’s about acknowledging a ‘systematic’ problem, whether it’s white privilege or anti-Semitism. ‘That happened for me,’ Omar said. ‘I was like, ‘Do not call me that, that’s not what I was doing.’ And I was like, oh, I see what you’re saying now. So I had to take a deep breath and understand where people were coming from and what point they were trying to make, which is what I expect people to do when I’m talking to them about things that impact me or offend me.’”[DailyBeast] 

2020 presidential hopeful, South Bend Mayor Peter Buttigieg to Meghan McCain on ABC’s The View: “I disagree with [Rep. Ilhan Omar’s] comments comparing Israel to Iran. People like me get strung up in Iran. So the idea that what’s going on is equivalent is just wrong. What I will say is, it’s a complicated picture. I was in Israel in May of this year and not only is there a real problem with how they’re going balance being a democracy with being a Jewish state, but they’ve also got to figure out, and we’ve got to figure out with them, as an ally, what the regional security picture is going look like in the future… What’s going on with the Palestinians — it has always been one of the most fiendishly complicated issues, and simple answers will not serve us well at a time like this.” [Video]