Rep. Ilhan Omar said it is “frightening” for her and other people with “marginalized identities” after President Trump “put a target” on her back.
“The president has put a target … on my back,” Omar said during an appearance on MSNBC. “It has been quite frightening to be a lawmaker in the United States with a president that has incited violence against myself and my family and those who carry the marginalized identities that I do.”
Rep. @IlhanMN: Trump “has put a target behind — on my back, and it has been quite frightening to be a lawmaker in the United States with a president that has incited violence against myself, and my family, and those who carry the marginalized identities that I do.” pic.twitter.com/RPnOFuzCtk
— Tom Elliott (@tomselliott) January 12, 2021
The Minnesota Democrat said she was put in a “heightened alert” category during the evacuation of the Capitol after a mob of Trump supporters breached security and began entering the building.
Trump and the far-left “Squad” member have repeatedly clashed since she was elected to Congress in 2018, with Trump frequently pointing to her Somali roots when criticizing her.
“How about Omar of Minnesota?” Trump said at a September campaign rally. “We’re going to win the state of Minnesota because of her, they say. She’s telling us how to run our country. How did you do where you came from? How’s your country doing? She’s going to tell us — she’s telling us how to run our country.”
Omar was one of the lawmakers leading the charge to impeach Trump following the riot at the Capitol, announcing as the scene was unfolding that she planned to draw up articles of impeachment against the president.
Omar continued her initiative to impeach the president this week, saying she was pushing her colleagues to take action and claiming that Congress was “constitutionally mandated to protect our democracy” after Trump exhibited “dangers to it.”
“If we do not do that, then history will not look kindly on us,” Omar said.
The House is expected to vote on Wednesday to impeach Trump, charging the president with an “incitement of insurrection” as justification.
