President Trump on Monday chastised Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-Calif.) for defending Rep. Ilhan Omar (D-Minn.), saying the Minnesota Democrat is “out of control.”
“Before Nancy, who has lost all control of Congress and is getting nothing done, decides to defend her leader, Rep. Omar, she should look at the anti-Semitic, anti-Israel and ungrateful U.S. HATE statements Omar has made,” Trump tweeted.
“She is out of control, except for her control of Nancy!” he added.
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Trump’s remarks come amid growing concerns for Omar’s personal safety. He has ratcheted up his criticisms of the freshman lawmaker in recent days, even as Democrats warn that the president’s rhetoric could endanger Omar, who is one of the first two Muslim women elected to Congress.
Pelosi said Sunday that she has asked Capitol Police to monitor Omar’s safety amid Trump’s renewed attacks. A man was arrested earlier this month after allegedly threatening to murder the congresswoman.
The Speaker was featured in a “60 Minutes” segment on Sunday night in which she ripped Trump’s leadership and downplayed divisions within her own caucus. The president appeared to be frustrated by the interview, calling it a “puff piece.”
Trump has repeatedly criticized Omar for her comments about U.S.-Israeli ties and, more recently, over the freshman Democrat’s remarks about the Sept. 11, 2001, terrorist attacks.
“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 last month in a speech to the Council on American Islamic Relations.
Critics say Omar downplayed the terrorist attacks, but her defenders say conservatives have taken her point about Islamophobia out of context.
The president on Friday tweeted a video that spliced together parts of Omar’s 9/11 comments with footage of the attacks on the World Trade Center, prompting widespread rebukes from Democratic lawmakers.
Omar issued a statement late Sunday saying she had experienced an increase in death threats in the aftermath of the president’s tweet invoking footage of the terrorist attack.
“Violent rhetoric and all forms of hate speech have no place in our society, much less from our country’s Commander in Chief,” Omar said. “We are all Americans. This is endangering lives. It has to stop.”