Former White House official Marc Short on Tuesday accused CNN of ignoring comments by Minnesota Democrat Ilhan Omar, who is running for Congress, which critics have called anti-Semitic.

"In Minnesota's fifth district, there's a congressional Democrat who's running an anti-Semitic campaign," said Short. "She has all sorts of anti-Semitic language in her past and she's going to be the nominee [sic]. How much has CNN covered that? Do you even know her name? Do you even know who she is?"

CNN anchor Alisyn Camerota defended her network's coverage of that race in which Democrat Ilhan Omar is seeking a House seat.


"We've reported on it," said Camerota before redirecting Short back to Trump's "hateful talk" that she said has inspired acts of violence. "But the point is that it trickles down from the top, or does it not?"

Omar said in a tweet dated Nov. 16, 2012, that "Israel has hypnotized the world, may Allah awaken the people and help them see the evil doings of Israel."

When Omar's critics began circulating the tweet earlier this year, she defended the comment as simply, "Drawing attention to the apartheid Israeli regime," which she said was "far from hating Jews."

CNN has mentioned the comments once in its coverage. An online story headlined, "Ilhan Omar could become first Somali-American in Congress after primary win," dated Aug. 15, said that, "Omar has been an open critic of Israel's treatment of the Palestinians, calling its government the 'apartheid Israeli regime' in a recent tweet, while vigorously denying charges of anti-Semitism, adding that her criticism 'is far from hating Jews.'"

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CNN has interviewed Omar and run other stories about her race that mostly say she would make history if she wins.

"She could be the first Muslim woman in Congress," CNN reported last week, which included an interview with the candidate.

Omar is running to fill a seat that will be left vacant by Rep. Keith Ellison, D-Minn., who is also a Muslim and is running in the state's attorney general race.