[Huffpoo] Rep. Ilhan Omar (D-Minn.) said President Donald Trump and other right-wing politicians and pundits’ attacks on her and fellow Muslim congresswoman Rashida Tlaib (D-Mich.) are meant to "silence" Muslims.
"I tell my sister Rashida Tlaib that her and I have the strength to endure any of the mischaracterization or efforts to distort and vilify and mischaracterize our message," Omar said Tuesday in an interview with MSNBC’s Chris Hayes.
"mischaracterize"...like when her speech is taped and played verbatim. What a repellant hateful lying imbecile
She added that such attacks were "designed to silence, sideline and almost eliminate [the] voice of Muslims from the public discourse."
Omar and Tlaib, who made history in November as the nation’s first Muslim women elected to Congress, have come under repeated attacks from the president, right-leaning pundits and lawmakers since they took office earlier this year.
Omar in particular, who is black, first faced significant controversy for questioning the U.S. relationship with Israel, which some painted as anti-Semitic.
Last month, Trump tweeted out a misleading video splicing together comments Omar made with footage of the Sept. 11 attacks, saying: "WE WILL NEVER FORGET." Despite Omar saying she received more death threats after the tweet, Trump continued his assault, saying people should look at her "anti-Semitic, anti-Israel and ungrateful U.S. HATE statements." |