Ilhan Omar retweeted a video clip Thursday in which from CNN contributor Angela Rye argued that the United States is on a path that will lead to “death camps.”
Rye’s comments were made during a Tuesday night debate with fellow contributor and Trump supporter Steve Cortes. The two of them were arguing over comments made by Democratic New York Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez alleging that the migrant camps housing detained immigrants are the equivalent of “concentration camps.”
It’s not enough to say what’s happening at the border is a damn shame. It’s not enough to scream about the atrocities at the border. Kids are dying. Parents are dying. And your president thinks it’s game. It’s lawless and inhumane. Wake up, y’all. It’s time. pic.twitter.com/pTp9UBXXQ9
— A N G E L A | R Y E (@angela_rye) June 20, 2019
“Before we are American, we are human beings, and it is not OK, it is a damn shame what is happening at this border and the fact that you’re going to justify it by economics,” Rye stated. “Let me just tell you, there are a whole lot of people making a whole lot of money by having these people in detention centers.”
“In 1933, there were concentration camps. In 1941, they were death camps and that is where we are going if our consciousness are not quickly pierced, it is a problem — do not laugh it off,” she added.
We are calling these camps what they are because they fit squarely in an academic consensus and definition.
History will be kind to those who stood up to this injustice.
So say what you will. Kids are dying and I’m not here to make people feel comfortable about that.
— Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (@AOC) June 19, 2019
Omar, a member of the House of Representatives from Minnesota, who came to the United States as a refugee, also retweeted Ocasio-Cortez arguing that the comparison works because “they fit squarely in an academic consensus and definition.”
The comparison has faced backlash, but Ocasio-Cortez has not backed down.
