by Molly Prince
President Donald Trump’s official campaign used Democratic Minnesota Rep. Ilhan Omar’s own words against her after she criticized the president for his response to a supporter who suggested shooting illegal immigrants.
“This was hard to watch and listen to but unsurprising that Trump would laugh about shooting people who come to our country seeking a better life,” Omar tweeted on Thursday. Her comments were in reference to an exchange that Trump had a day prior while he was holding a rally in Florida.
During the rally, Trump rhetorically asked the crowd how to stop the slew of migrants illegally entering the U.S. After an attendee shouted out “shoot them,” Trump commented that “only in the panhandle can you get away with that statement.”
Trump’s 2020 campaign fired back at Omar’s criticism with a clip of the Minnesota congresswoman from 2013 where she shrug off the idea that the Islamic-terror organizations al-Qaeda and Hezbollah are dangerous and mocked Americans who believe so.
Omar, and fellow Democratic Rep. Rashida Tlaib of Michigan became America’s first Muslim congresswomen when sworn into office in January. Their time in office has been embroiled in allegations of anti-Semitism and anti-American sentiments.
— Trump War Room (@TrumpWarRoom) May 9, 2019
Omar has defended anti-Israeli statements, such as ones invoking Allah to expose Israel’s “evil doings” and faced criticism from both sides of the aisle for promoting age-old anti-Semitic canards such as that Jews’ support of Israel is paid for and that they have a dual loyalty to the U.S. and Israel.
The congresswoman fundraised with the Council on American-Islamic Relations (CAIR), a notable pro-Palestinian organization with ties to Islamic terror groups. The U.S. Department of Justice listed CAIR as an unindicted co-conspirator in funding millions of dollars to Hamas. Additionally, the United Arab Emirates named CAIR a terrorist organization along with al-Qaeda and the Islamic State in 2014.
While speaking to CAIR, Omar described the Sept. 11 terrorist attacks as merely an event where “some people did something.”
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Molly Prince is a reporter for the Daily Caller News Foundation. Follow Molly on Twitter.
Photo “Ilhan Omar” by Ilhan Omar. Photo “Donald Trump” by Marc Nozell. CC BY 2.0.
