Ilhan Omar Blasts Jerry Seinfeld’s ‘Dangerous’ Rhetoric Claiming Palestine ‘Doesn’t Exist’

AP Photo/Ross D. Franklin – Associated Press

Comedian Jerry Seinfeld drew the ire of Rep. Ilhan Oman (D-MN) over his most recent comments on “Palestine” as he left Game 4 of the NBA finals on Wednesday night.

An influencer caught Seinfeld leaving Madison Square Garden after the New York Knicks pulled off a stunning victory, saying, “What up, Seinfeld? What up? Can we get a ‘Free Palestine?'”

Seinfeld laughed and answered, “It doesn’t exist.”

It’s not the first time the comedian has voiced his opposition to “Palestine.”

In Sept. 2025, Seinfeld spoke at a Duke University event where he compared the “Free Palestine” movement to the Ku Klux Klan.

“Free Palestine is, to me, just — you’re free to say you don’t like Jews. Just say you don’t like Jews,” Seinfeld said, according to The Duke Chronicle. “By saying Free Palestine, you’re not admitting what you really think,” Seinfeld added. “So it’s actually — compared to the Ku Klux Klan, I’m actually thinking the Klan is actually a little better here because they can come right out and say, ‘We don’t like Blacks, we don’t like Jews.’ Okay that’s honest.”

TMZ caught up with Omar Thursday to get her take on Seinfeld’s post-game comment.

The reporter asked, “Jerry Seinfeld has said again last night, ‘Palestine doesn’t exist.’ Do you think that’s dangerous rhetoric for someone with such a big platform?”

Omar answered, “I think Jerry Seinfeld has been really horrific human being and an example when it comes to talking about the reality of the genocide that Israel has carried out.”

Omar continued:

And I think when people prioritize their own people in the interest of harming others, it’s very dangerous. And I don’t think you’d think of him as like just a celebrity and someone who has a platform in that danger. But it is dangerous just as a human being to talk the way that he does. It’s very disgusting. It’s very disturbing and it’s very genocidal language that he uses and people need to call him out for it.

The reporter asked, “Do you think it has an impact, someone of his stature saying such things?”

“It does because it carries weight so many people are able to see it and hear it,” Omar said. “And for him knowing that his people suffered the Holocaust and experienced what genocide looks like, for you now to recognize the genocidal language that he’s using to wipe out a whole group of people. It’s very disturbing and people need to recognize that.

“What’s your message to Jerry?” the reporter asked.

“Be a human. Care about other people. And Palestinians do exist. They are real people. They are ethnic to the land in which they belong. And Israel is the one that is taking their land, not the Palestinians.

Watch the clip above via TMZ on X.

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