Rep. Ilhan Omar, D-Minn., blamed President Trump Tuesday for creating racist “monsters” just days after the shooting at the Chabad of Poway Synagogue in California.
“The occupant of the White House, as my sister Ayanna likes to call him, and his allies are doing everything that they can to distance themselves and misinform the public from the monsters that they created that is terrorizing the Jewish community and the Muslim community,” Omar said Tuesday, referencing Rep. Ayanna Pressley, D-Mass., at a “Black Women in Defense of Ilhan Omar” gathering.
In the wake of the Poway shooting, which killed one woman and injured three other people, Trump condemned the shooting as a “hate crime.”
“We forcefully condemn the evil of anti-Semitism and hate, which must be defeated,” Trump said.
After election to the house in 2018, a 2012 tweet from Omar resurfaced stating that Israel has “hypnotized the world.”
In February, Omar claimed the American Israel Political Action Committee was paying off American politicians to be pro-Israel, a comment she later apologized for as anti-Semitic.
Listening and learning, but standing strong ?? pic.twitter.com/7TSroSf8h1
— Ilhan Omar (@IlhanMN) February 11, 2019
Later in the month, Omar was criticized for comments made at a panel discussion on liberal issues where she alluded to the dual-loyalty stereotype of Jewish Americans.
“I want to talk about the political influence in this country that says it is OK for people to push for allegiance to a foreign country. I want to ask why is it OK for me to talk about the influence of the NRA, of fossil fuel industries or Big Pharma, and not talk about a powerful lobbying group that is influencing policies?” Omar said.
A couple days later, Omar doubled down on Twitter.
“I should not be expected to have allegiance/pledge support to a foreign country in order to serve my country in Congress or serve on committee,” Omar said in a tweet. “I am told everyday that I am anti-American if I am not pro-Israel. I find that to be problematic and I am not alone. I just happen to be willing to speak up on it and open myself to attacks.”
Since her apology in February, Omar has changed her tone, charging both Republican and Democratic leadership of using claims of anti-Semitism as a cover to silence her.
