Congresswoman Ilhan Omar (D-Minn.) demanded to know what Twitter would do about false claims spread by President Donald Trump that she “partied” on the anniversary of the 9/11 attacks — lies she says have “put my life at risk.”
The freshman Democrat sounded off Wednesday after the president shared a now-deleted tweet showing herself and fellow Rep. Ayanna Pressley (D-Mass.) dancing to singer/rapper Lizzo‘s smash hit “Truth Hurts.” The video, which went viral last weekend, was grabbed by right-wing provocateur and comedian Terrence K. Williams, who claimed the footage was taken on the 18th anniversary of the terrorist attacks.
Minnesota Rep. Ilahn Omar said her office has been in touch with Twitter administrators to have President Donald Trump’s tweet removed from the platform. (Photo: Michael Brochstein/SOPA Images/LightRocket via Getty Images)
“GET THIS WOMAN OUT OF OFFICE,” Williams tweeted to his followers. “Ilhan Omar partied on the anniversary of 9/11 because she believes that ‘Some People Just Did Somethings.’ ”
Trump quote-tweeted the post to his own followers. Hours later, Williams deleted the original.
Omar, who’s faced death threats for her comments allegedly trivializing the attacks, explained the origin of the video, which was actually taken during a conference reception in Washington, D.C., on Sept. 13. She went on to accuse the president, who has made habit of decrying “fake news” from the left, of spreading lies himself.
This is from a CBC event we hosted this weekend to celebrate black women in Congress.
The President of the United States is continuing to spread lies that put my life at risk.
What is Twitter doing to combat this misinformation? https://t.co/XdkRVrU7mZ
— Ilhan Omar (@IlhanMN) September 18, 2019
“This is from a CBC event we hosted this weekend to celebrate black women in Congress,” she tweeted. “The President of the United States is continuing to spread lies that put my life at risk. What is Twitter doing to combat this misinformation?”
Speaking to Politico, the Minnesota Democrat said her office had been in contact with Twitter’s administration about Trump’s fake tweet, arguing the platform “has a responsibility and they set community standards — and clearly the president has shown many-a-times that he has violated their community standards.”
““I don’t even know why his account is not fully suspended — why he’s not deplatformed,” she added.
Several others, including Vermont Sen. Bernie Sanders and Sirius XM host Zerlina Maxwell, rushed to the congresswoman’s defense by pointing out Trump’s bogus claim.
“The president just RT’d a lie,” Maxwell tweeted Wednesday. “We all know this video of Ilhan is from this weekend bc we saw them post it in real time.”
Sanders chimed in: “It comes as no surprise that Donald Trump’s racism and xenophobia knows no bounds. I’ll look forward to continue working with Rep. Omar long after Trump loses in 2020.”
Trump’s latest attack against the congresswoman follows similar screed from earlier this year when he retweeted edited video of the 9/11 attacks spliced with comments from Omar during a Council on American-Islamic Relations fundraiser in which she lamented how Muslims were targeted after the attacks because “some people did something.”
The phrasing was decried by conservatives and other who accused Omar of making light of the massacre, which left nearly 3,000 Americans dead.
During a memorial last week, the family of a 9/11 victim took aim at Omar over her controversial remarks and asked that she please “show respect in honoring” those who died.
The congresswoman later addressed the backlash, writing: “September 11th was an attack on all of us. We will never forget the thousands of Americans who lost their lives in the largest terror attack on U.S. soil.”
