GOP Rep. Jim Banks attacked Rep. Ilhan Omar after she said she’s “stricken with PTSD” regarding the recent tension between the United States and Iran.
Omar, who was a refugee from Somalia, has been critical of President Trump’s decision to target top Iranian Gen. Qassem Soleimani last Thursday. Iran retaliated by attacking at least two U.S. air bases with more than a dozen ballistic missiles on Tuesday night, but there were no casualties. Trump announced that he would seek additional sanctions but did not plan to retaliate for the ballistic missiles earlier on Wednesday.
The Minnesota Democrat condemned the president’s announcement of additional sanctions, labeling them “economic warfare.”
Rep. Ilhan Omar complained she’s “stricken with PTSD” because of recent events in the Middle East.
This is a disgrace and offensive to our nation’s veterans who really do have PTSD after putting their life on the line to keep America safe. pic.twitter.com/twhZDuUDu0
— Jim Banks (@RepJimBanks) January 8, 2020
“And I think every time I hear about — I hear of conversations around war, I find myself being stricken with PTSD. And I find peace knowing that I serve with great advocates for peace and people who have shown courage against war,” Omar said at a press conference on Wednesday.
Banks, who is in his second term as the representative from Indiana’s 3rd District, called the congresswoman’s statements “a disgrace” and added that they are “offensive to our nation’s veterans who really do have PTSD after putting their life on the line to keep America safe.”
Omar fled war-torn Somalia when she was eight years old and was relocated to a refugee camp in Kenya. She spent four years there with her family until she immigrated to the U.S.
