#IStandWithIlhan trends after crowd at Trump rally chants ‘send her back’

The hashtag #IStandWithIlhan began trending after the crowd at President Trump’s rally Wednesday night targeted Rep. Ilhan Omar (D-Minn.) and broke out into chants of “send her back.”

The chant erupted during the Greenville, N.C., rally after Trump made a series of remarks blasting Omar following days of attacks on her and other nonwhite progressive congresswomen, Reps. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (N.Y.), Ayanna Pressley (Mass.) and Rashida Tlaib (Mich.).

{mosads}All of the freshman lawmakers are U.S. citizens; Omar is the only one of the four born outside of the U.S., having arrived as a child refugee from her native Somalia.

Omar responded to the chant by sharing a quote from Maya Angelou’s poem “Still I Rise.”

“You may shoot me with your words,/You may cut me with your eyes,/You may kill me with your hatefulness,/But still, like air, I’ll rise,” Omar tweeted Wednesday.

Social media users, including many U.S. and foreign politicians, used the hashtag #IStandWithIlhan as a message of solidarity following the chant.

More than 153,000 tweets had been sent with the phrase as of Thursday morning.

Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-Vt.), a 2020 presidential contender, said that he is proud of Omar’s work in Congress.

“Trump is stoking the most despicable and disturbing currents in our society,” Sanders wrote. “And that very hatred and racism fuels him. We must fight together to defeat the most dangerous president in the history of our country.”

#IStandWithIlhan and am proud to work with her in Congress.

Trump is stoking the most despicable and disturbing currents in our society. And that very hatred and racism fuels him. We must fight together to defeat the most dangerous president in the history of our country.

— Bernie Sanders (@SenSanders) July 18, 2019

Former Republican Rep. Joe Walsh (lll.) said that it saddened him to see the “standard-bearer” for his party embrace the chant.

“It’s so ugly. It’s so un-American. It just saddens me beyond belief,” Walsh wrote.

It saddens me beyond belief that the standard-bearer for the Republican Party, my Party, is making “Send her back” his re-election rallying cry.

It’s so ugly. It’s so un-American. It just saddens me beyond belief. https://t.co/eM7WT5HZVq

— Joe Walsh (@WalshFreedom) July 18, 2019

Guy Verhofstadt, a Belgian politician and member of the European Parliament, called the Trump rally chant “monstrous.”

This is monstrous. It deserves condemnation by the free world. #IStandWithIlhan https://t.co/sOstESBjxF

— Guy Verhofstadt (@guyverhofstadt) July 18, 2019

Thousands of others offered their own messages of support for the freshman congresswoman.

#IStandWithIlhan She is a friend.
We have talked about Minnesota voters, who she cares about. She cares about students. She supports women. She supports other civically engaged women (that’s how we met!) She is a good mother, citizen, friend and an important member of Congress. pic.twitter.com/NPZLukTRXM

— Piper Perabo (@PiperPerabo) July 18, 2019

.@IlhanMN…

Is an American citizen
Is a duly elected Congresswoman
Loves America
Is a beautiful Black woman from Somalia
Is highly intelligent, charismatic, articulate, and passionate
Speaks truth to power
Isn’t being sent anywhere#IStandWithIlhanpic.twitter.com/fdFftd0s8w

— Bishop Talbert Swan (@TalbertSwan) July 18, 2019

This is white supremacy, and we cannot condone it. If you’re an elected official or member of media, you can’t sit on the sidelines as a neutral party as this continues to happen. Your silence is complicity in vile racism. #IStandWithIlhan

— Charlotte Clymer️‍ (@cmclymer) July 18, 2019

You don’t have to agree with everything (or anything) naturalized US citizen Rep. Ilhan Omar says to stand with her tonight. I hope you will RETWEET this if, like me, your response to the vile chants of “Send her back!” at Trump’s hateful North Carolina rally is #IStandWithIlhan.

— Seth Abramson (@SethAbramson) July 18, 2019

Trump, the GOP, right-wing media and the conservative movement are going to get Ilhan Omar hurt if they don’t stop this insanely dangerous bigoted rhetoric. That’s not hyperbole. Whenever they make her the target of their hate, she receives serious death threats. #IStandWithIlhan

— Adam Best (@adamcbest) July 18, 2019

Dear #TrumpRally people chanting “send her @IlhanMN back” — remember it’s the sacrifice of this proud Muslim American US Marine & others like me that allows YOU to be YOU. Be grateful!

To Ilhan & others being scapegoated: this US Marine has your back! March on! #IStandWithIlhan pic.twitter.com/WbjkdTAQvy

— MuslimMarine (@mansoortshams) July 18, 2019

While some spoke out against the Trump rally chant, supporters of the president also took to Twitter with a dueling hashtag of #IStandWithPresTrump.

With 49,000 tweets as of Thursday, some of his supporters stood by his decision to attack Omar.

#IStandWithPresTrump If you hate our country, customs, history and Constitution, you can leave… whether you’re from Sweden or Somalia. It has nothing to do with race whatsoever.

— Mark Dice (@MarkDice) July 18, 2019

We are NOT going to be bullied by leftists.

We love our country, our flag and our constitution and we stand with @realDonaldTrump! @DiamondandSilk #IStandWithPresTrump keep it trending! pic.twitter.com/idJwrTu2R3

— Joy Villa (@Joy_Villa) July 18, 2019