Days after President Donald Trump told Rep. Ilhan Omar and several other freshmen Democratic women to “go back” to the “crime-infested” countries they came from, Omar has received a warm welcome after arriving back home to Minnesota.
Omar was one of four total Democrats — including New York Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, Massachusetts Rep. Ayanna Pressley, and Rep. Rashida Tlaib of Michigan toward whom Trump’s tweet was geared. Additionally, Trump failed to quiet his supporters at a campaign rally in Greenville, North Carolina, Wednesday when they broke out in the chant “send her back!”
So when Omar walked through the doors of Minneapolis-St. Paul International Airport July 18, hundreds of her supporters greeted her with open arms chanting, “Welcome home Ilhan.”
The congresswoman, who atttended a town hall Thursday, appeared visibly touched by the cheers and responded to the welcoming on Twitter by writing, “It’s good to be home ❤️.”
“The reality is everybody talks about how [Trump] is threatened because we criticize him,” Omar told the crowd at the airport according to MPR News. “But the reality is he is threatened because we are inspiring people to dream about a country that recognizes our dignity and our humanity.
“His nightmare is seeing the beautiful mosaic fabric of our country welcome someone like me as their member of Congress,” she added. “We are going to continue being a nightmare to this president because his policies are a nightmare to us.”
Omar, like Ocasio-Cortez, Pressley and Tlaib, is an American citizen. The Minnesota Democrat is a Somali immigrant who migrated to the U.S. as a child refugee.
Upon hearing about the support Omar garnered at the airport, Trump tweeted Friday that the crowd gathered to greet the congresswoman was “staged.”
“It is amazing how the Fake News Media became ‘crazed’ over the chant ‘send her back’ by a packed Arena (a record) crowd in the Great State of North Carolina, but is totally calm & accepting of the most vile and disgusting statements made by the three Radical Left Congresswomen,” he began.
“Mainstream Media, which has lost all credibility, has either officially or unofficially become a part of the Radical Left Democrat Party,” he went on. “It is a sick partnership, so pathetic to watch! They even covered a tiny staged crowd as they greeted Foul Mouthed Omar in Minnesota, a State which I will win in #2020 because they can’t stand her and her hatred of our Country, and they appreciate all that I have done for them (opening up mining and MUCH more) which has led to the best employment & economic year in Minnesota’s long and beautiful history!”
Omar has not responded to Trump’s tweet. However, she did address what she described as his “racism” in a tweet concerning a federal immigration official with close ties to Stephen Miller, a far-right political activist who is also one of Trump’s senior advisors for policy. Politico reported the official suggested setting a cap at zero for refugees in the coming year.
“The President’s racism is about more than just words,” Omar tweeted in response. “It’s about transforming America from a welcoming nation where everyone has a shot to a land for rich and powerful people who look like Donald Trump.”
