Trump shares video about Ilhan Omar’s 9/11 comments as she faces death threats

Susan Walsh/AP Images

President Donald Trump on Friday shared a video on Democratic Rep. Ilhan Omar’s recent comments on the September 11, 2001 terror attacks.
Last week, a man was arrested and "charged by criminal complaint with threatening to assault and murder" Omar, according to the US Attorney’s Office.
Omar’s comments on 9/11 sparked backlash among Republicans and even some Democrats, but some of her colleagues and others in the media have come to her defense.
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President Donald Trump on Friday shared a video on Democratic Rep. Ilhan Omar’s recent comments on the September 11, 2001 terror attacks as the freshman lawmaker has faced death threats.

Omar encountered backlash after comments she made during a speech at a Council on American-Islamic Relations event last month.

"For far too long we have lived with the discomfort of being a second-class citizen, and frankly I’m tired of it, and every single Muslim in this country should be tired of it," Omar said at the time. "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."

CAIR, a civil liberties organization, was founded in 1994. A spokesperson from Omar’s office told The Washington Post that the congresswoman misspoke; CAIR doubled in size after the 9/11 attacks. (The Post did a deep dive into the context of Omar’s comments.)

The video Trump shared on Friday zeroed in on Omar stating "some people did something." That moment from the speech is juxtaposed with footage from the day of the attacks in New York City. The tweet Trump shared included the caption, "WE WILL NEVER FORGET!"

Trump has his own history of controversy when it comes to his characterization of the 9/11 attacks, and he has routinely made false claims about what transpired that day.

Many Republicans and some Democrats felt Omar’s comments were insensitive and downplayed the terrorist attacks.

Reacting to Omar’s remarks in a tweet on Tuesday, Republican Rep. Dan Crenshaw, a veteran of the war in Afghanistan, said, "First Member of Congress to ever describe terrorists who killed thousands of Americans on 9/11 as ‘some people who did something.’ Unbelievable."

Democratic Rep. Max Rose, who’s also a veteran of Afghanistan and from New York City, described Omar’s remarks as "insensitive" and "offensive."

Omar has also faced criticism in the media, including a contentious New York Post cover, which also portrayed that fragment of her speech above a photo of the Twin Towers collapsing. Democratic Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez described the cover as "horrifying" and "hateful."

Meanwhile, "Fox & Friends" host Brian Kilmeade responded to Omar’s remarks by questioning if she’s "an American first."

Reacting to Kilmeade’s suggestion, Omar in a tweet said, "This is dangerous incitement, given the death threats I face. I hope leaders of both parties will join me in condemning it. My love and commitment to our country and that of my colleagues should never be in question. We are ALL Americans!"

Omar has also recently faced backlash over comments she’s made on Israel, which were condemned by lawmakers on both sides of the aisle as anti-Semitic. She has since apologized.

Some in the media have come to her defense over this most recent comment.

"The point she was actually making…was that the acts of 19 men who committed the atrocities of 9/11 should not be held against the billion Muslims who live around the world," MSNBC’s Chris Hayes said on Thursday.

A New York man was recently arrested and charged with threatening to assault and murder Omar. He allegedly called her a "terrorist" in an expletive-laced phone call to Omar’s office.

"Do you work for the Muslim Brotherhood?" the man said to a staffer over the phone, according to a press release from the US Attorney’s Office in the Western District of New York. "Why are you working for her, she’s a (expletive) terrorist. I’ll put a bullet in her (expletive) skull."

The freshman Democrat’s office did not immediately respond to a request for comment from INSIDER.

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Source: Business Insider – feedback@businessinsider.com (John Haltiwanger)