Rep. Lee Zeldin says Pelosi Showed ‘Bad Judgment’ Allowing anti-Israel Imam to Deliver House Prayer

Rep. Lee Zeldin, R-N.Y., told “Fox & Friends” on Sunday that House Speaker Nancy Pelosi, D-Calif., had made “a bad call” by allowing a Texas imam with a history of anti-Israel comments to deliver the noon prayer in the House of Representatives last week.

“Either the speaker’s office did not vet this imam at all, or worse, they did vet the imam and then decided that it would have been OK for the imam to come onto the floor of the House of Representatives anyway,” said Zeldin. “It’s a bad call to have this person. It’s horrible judgment, and after the 2019 that we’ve had so far, where members of their own caucus are pushing anti-Semitism and anti-Israel hate, it was a bad judgment.”

The imam, Omar Suleiman of Irving, Texas, was introduced by Pelosi before he delivered the prayer from the rostrum on Thursday. He had been invited to speak by Rep. Eddie Bernice Johnson, D-Texas.

“We pray for peace, not war. Love, not hate. Benevolence, not greed. Unity, not division,” Suleiman said during his prayer. “And, we commit ourselves to not betraying our prayers with actions that contradict them.”

Grand jury rejects DOJ effort to indict Democratic lawmakers who urged military to defy illegal orders

Key House committee advances nationwide voter ID bill, setting up 2026 election fight

What the timing of the FBI’s image release suggests in the Nancy Guthrie case: crime insider

Dem senator fumes that GOP’s foreign funding claim ‘delegitimizes’ anger of anti-ICE agitators in US

Susan Collins shrugs off attacks by Democrats and Trump, says Maine voters ‘Don’t vote party line’

DOJ Unredacts Alleged Epstein Co-Conspirators After Pressure from Thomas Massie and Ro Khanna

Leavitt brushes off Lutnick–Epstein heat with list of administration wins media ignored before ending briefing

Media Reporting Trump’s Tariffs Cost Americans $1,000, But They’re Ignoring Overall Savings of His Policies

Dem lawmaker compares ICE agents to Nazis and Gestapo during fiery House hearing on enforcement

Senate GOP investigating Pritzker administration over Illinois health records breach

Major charity raises legal questions by funding pro-Harris dark money operation

Fulton County FBI raid prompted by Trump 2020 election lawyer’s criminal referral

AI power players pour cash into competitive primaries as 2026 midterms heat up

Grassley says secret subpoenas for lawmakers’ call logs undercut congressional protections

Shutdown clock ticks as Schumer, Democrats dig in on DHS funding demands

In 2017, the Algemeiner reported that Suleiman had posted an image on social media supporting the Muslim Brotherhood in 2013 and had posted on Facebook and Twitterduring the 2014 conflict between Israel and Hamas: “God willing on this blessed night as the 3rd Intifada begins, the beginning of the end of Zionism is here. May Allah help us overcome this monster, protect the innocent of the world, and accept the murdered as martyrs.”

The following year, the report added, Suleiman shared a video purporting to show conflicts between Palestinians and Israeli soldiers with the comment: “Want to know what its [sic] like to live under Nazis? Look no further than how the Palestinians are treated daily by apartheid Israel. Sickening.” That post was accompanied by the hashtag “BDS,” an acronym for the anti-Israel “Boycott, Divest, Sanction” movement.

“Let’s just say all you found was that he compares Israel to Nazis,” Zeldin told Fox News. “That would be enough to maybe tell that member or other members of the caucus, ‘How about you find another imam if you want to have an imam give an opening prayer?’ But … comparing Israel to terrorists, calling for — and inciting violence, calling for a third Palestinian intifada or the posts on social media that are supportive of the Muslim Brotherhood — as that list goes further on, it’s a bad call to have this person.”