Rep. Ted Lieu (D., Calif.) accused Republican congressman Mo Brooks of having a foreign allegiance in a tweet Thursday.
"Hey @RepMoBrooks: A reminder that you are an American Member of Congress. Your allegiance should be to America. We are Americans first. You should be defending the right of Americans to travel to other countries. Get it?" Lieu tweeted.
Hey @RepMoBrooks: A reminder that you are an American Member of Congress. Your allegiance should be to America. We are Americans first. You should be defending the right of Americans to travel to other countries. Get it? https://t.co/4FhRWXsLJP
— Ted Lieu (@tedlieu) August 15, 2019
Lieu's tweet against Brooks came about an hour after he accused the U.S. ambassador to Israel, David Friedman, of having a foreign allegiance for supporting Israel's decision to deny entry to Reps. Rashida Tlaib (D., Mich.) and Ilhan Omar (D., Minn.). Accusation of dual loyalty is a classic anti-Semitic canard.
Lieu later deleted the tweet against Friedman and acknowledged that dual loyalty allegations have caused harm to the Jewish community in the past. He did not, however, delete the tweet directed at Brooks.
Israeli prime minister Benjamin Netanyahu explained the decision to deny entry, pointing out that "the itinerary of the two Congresswomen reveals that the sole purpose of their visit is to harm Israel and increase incitement against it," and pointed out that there trip was funded by the Palestinian organization Miftah, "an avid supporter of BDS, and among whose members are those who have expressed support for terrorism against Israel."
Israel later decided to grant Tlaib permission to enter Israel on humanitarian grounds to visit family in the West Bank, but the congresswoman said Friday she would not make the trip, claiming that "visiting my grandmother under these oppressive conditions stands against everything I believe in."