Democratic White House hopeful Beto O’Rourke accused President Trump of inciting “violence against Congresswomen Omar.”
The former Texas congressman’s comments came at a campaign event in South Carolina on Saturday after Trump tweeted a video of remarks by Rep. Ilhan Omar, D-Minn., about the Sept. 11 terrorist attacks.
O’Rourke said that the video tweeted by Trump on Friday is another example of the administration targeting women and minorities.
“This is an incitement to violence against Congresswoman Omar, against our fellow Americans who happen to be Muslim. This is part and parcel of what we’ve seen from an administration that has described Mexican immigrants as rapists and criminals,” O’Rourke said.
Beto said in SC today that Trump posting a video of Omar’s 9/11 remarks with video of the attacks “is an incitement to violence.”
He also said this is coming from someone who has called asylum seekers “animals.” pic.twitter.com/3qt6od9GBF
— Julio Rosas (@Julio_Rosas11) April 13, 2019
Other 2020 Democratic presidential candidates have also stood in solidarity with Omar, saying that the criticism she faces has to do with the fact that Republicans want to tear down a Muslim woman.
2020 Democratic presidential field weighs in on Trump’s response to Ilhan Omar 9/11 “some people did something” comment pic.twitter.com/vgPfTzd9SE
— Emily Larsen (@emilyelarsen) April 13, 2019
Omar has been the subject of criticism over controversial comments about the terrorists who killed roughly 3,000 people in the Sept. 11 attacks. The Minnesota lawmaker was speaking to a Muslim advocacy lobbying group, the Council on American-Islamic Relations, last month when she referred to the terrorists as “some people” who “did something.”
“CAIR was founded after 9/11 because they recognized that some people did something, and that all of us were starting to lose access to our civil liberties,” Omar said at the event.
Reacting to Omar’s comments, the New York Post published a Thursday cover with a photo of the American Airlines jet crashing into the World Trade Center in New York City, N.Y., on Sept. 11, 2001, with the headline “Here’s your something.”
According to the latest RealClearPolitics polling average for the Democratic presidential nomination, O’Rourke sits in a distant third place with 9.1% support. Former Vice President Joe Biden, who has yet to announce a presidential run, and Sen. Bernie Sanders, I-Vt., lead the pack with 31% and 21%, respectively.
