I’m a bit late to the party, but in case you missed it, US President Donald Trump has been under fire for this tweet about Rep. Ilhan Omar:
(tweet deleted – here are her comments to which he was referring:)
Omar and many of her fellow Democrats have claimed it has led to threats on her life, and did not show the full context of her comments, unfairly making her look like she was not treating the 911 attacks seriously.
I have a number of thoughts about this.
Her Full Comments Really WERE Dismissive of The 911 Terror Attacks
Here is an example of a video from an anti-Israel site, which purports to show the full context of Omar’s comments:
The claim is by omitting the words “CAIR was founded after 911 because they recognized that some people did something and that all of us were starting to lose access to our civil liberties“, Trump made her look dismissive of 911.
I’d posit that even with the full statement, she still comes across as dismissive of 9-11.
It is not like she said something like “CAIR was founded after 911 because they recognized that some fellow Muslims perpetrated a heinous terror attack that resulted in the deaths of thousands of innocent people, leading to security measures that made it feel like innocent Muslims were losing access to our civil liberties.”
This Is Not The First Time We Have Seen Ilhan Omar Dismissive of Terrorism
These latest comments to come to light, thanks to the Trump tweet, are not even the first example of Ilhan Omar treating terrorism like a big joke. That would be these comments:
And we’ve also seen how she doesn’t treat antisemitism seriously either. Which makes sense, since she disseminates it herself.
Omar’s 911 Comments Are Very Similar to those of Linda Sarsour
Over two years ago, I posted Linda Sarsour’s comments at a CAIR banquet.
As I wrote at the time:
I have never heard another New Yorker speak as dispassionately about 9/11 as Linda did when addressing an all-Muslim audience in 2012 at CAIR Arizona. She shared her experiences that helped pave the way for her career as a Muslim activist, which was triggered by 9/11.
Note how she begins with “I know many of you may be tired of hearing about 9/11,” which seems to be an acknowledgment that many of her audience not only are not moved by what happened on that fateful day, but are sick of hearing about it. She then continues to speak about 9/11 from her point of view as a Muslim, with not even a word of sympathy for the real victims of the terror attacks that day, nor any reflections from her as an American citizen. For her, that day seems only about the anxiety and apprehension of Muslims (including herself), and how it spurred her to fight for their rights. Yet even when speaking as a Muslim, there is no acknowledgement of the role of radical Islam.
These words could apply just as equally to Ilhan Omar’s comments.
Ilhan Omar and Her Fellow Democrats Crying That The Tweet Has Led to Death Threats is Disingenuous
As explained above, President Trump’s tweet does fairly represent Omar’s seemingly dismissive attitude towards 911. Claiming his tweet has led to death threats is a diversionary argument. If Omar has received death threats, it is because her actual words have come to light. I obviously do not condone any death threats against her, but she needs to take responsibility for her words and the passions they may trigger, instead of blaming someone else.
It is also rich of her and her fellow Democrats to complain about the hate Donald Trump’s tweet about her has caused, given her antisemitic words and tweets – such as those suggesting we have hypnotized the world, are Islamophobic, and use money to control the US government. Perpetrating these hateful stereotypes could very well lead to more violent attacks against Jews.
