President Trump blasted House Speaker Nancy Pelosi for defending Rep. Ilhan Omar and called the freshman Democrat “anti-Semitic” and “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. She is out of control, except for her control of Nancy!” Trump tweeted Monday.
PELOSI MOVES TO ENSURE ILHAN OMAR'S SAFETY, CALLS FOR TRUMP TO TAKE DOWN VIDEO
The president’s tweets come after Pelosi, D-Calif., announced Sunday that she’d taken steps to ensure the safety of Omar, D-Minn., after the president tweeted a video that combined images of the 9/11 terror attacks with remarks by Omar.
The video showed the burning World Trade Center towers and Omar speaking last month at the Council on American-Islamic Relations (CAIR), where she said the organization was founded because “some people did something” and Muslims “were starting to lose access to our civil liberties.”
“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,” she said in her March 23 speech, according to a video posted online. “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 was founded in 1994, but according to its website, its membership skyrocketed after Sept. 11, 2001.
The video tweeted by Trump also included news footage of the terror attacks on the Twin Towers. Trump captioned his tweet with: “WE WILL NEVER FORGET!”
Critics accused Omar of offering a flippant description of the attackers, who killed nearly 3,000 people. She later sought to defend herself by tweeting a quote from President George W. Bush. Days after 9/11, the Republican president referred to the attackers as “people.”
Pelosi called for Trump take down the video he had pinned to his Twitter page. That same day, the video was removed, but it is unclear whether it was because of Pelosi’s demand.
The White House defended Trump, saying the president had a duty to highlight Omar’s history of comments that others have found offensive, and that he wished no “ill will” upon the congresswoman.
“Certainly the president is wishing no ill will and certainly not violence towards anyone, but the president is absolutely and should be calling out the congresswoman for her not only one time but history of anti-Semitic comments,” White House Press Secretary Sarah Sanders said. “The bigger question is, why aren’t Democrats doing the same thing? It’s absolutely abhorrent the comments that she continues to make and has made and they look the other way.”
Omar repeatedly has pushed fellow Democrats into uncomfortable territory with comments about Israel and the strength of its influence in Washington. She apologized for suggesting that lawmakers support Israel for pay and said she wasn’t criticizing Jews. But, she refused to take back a tweet in which she suggested American supporters of Israel “pledge allegiance” to a foreign country.
Fox News’ David Aaro and The Associated Press contributed to this report.
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