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2020 Democrats Rush to the Defense of Omar After 9/11 Comment

Ilhan Omar / Getty Images
April 13, 2019

Several Democratic presidential candidates defended freshman Rep. Ilhan Omar (D., Minn.) on Friday after President Donald Trump and Republicans slammed her for minimizing the September 11 terrorist attacks to "some people did something."

Speaking to the Council on American Islamic Relations at a March fundraiser, Omar talked about the difficulties Muslims faced following the Sept. 11, 2001, al Qaeda attacks. She claimed they saw their civil liberties infringed upon, and she referred to the events as an instance when "some people did something." Her point was to praise CAIR for organizing in response.

After the video went viral, Republicans and some Democrats in Congress voiced their disgust at the comment. Trump tweeted out a video of Omar's comments followed by footage of the airplanes flying into the Twin Towers and then the towers collapsing, sparking outrage from Democrats who believed criticism of Omar's comment was "inciting violence" against her.

Several 2020 Democrats, including Sens. Elizabeth Warren (Mass.), Bernie Sanders (I., Vt.), Amy Klobuchar (Minn.), South Bend Mayor Pete Buttigieg, Gov. Jay Inslee (Wash.), and former Gov. John Hickenlooper (Colo.) have slammed Trump for his tweet.

"The President is inciting violence against a sitting Congresswoman—and an entire group of Americans based on their religion," Sen. Elizabeth Warren (D., Mass.) tweeted. "It's disgusting. It's shameful. And any elected leader who refuses to condemn it shares responsibility for it."

MoveOn.org, a large progressive activist group, also rushed to the defense of Omar in a tweet thread, calling her courageous and a "champion of the U.S. House."