When you think you’ve heard and seen it all from Minnesota Democrat Ilhan Omar think again. Omar has been receiving much criticism over the past months for her anti-Semitic comments such as claiming Israel had “hypnotized the world” into ignoring its treatment of Palestinians.
Omar did not understand the “weight of the words,” Speaker of the House Nancy Pelosi said. This time enough is enough. Omar is facing backlash after her speech at a Muslim rights group’s event where she described the Sept. 11, 2001 attacks as “some people did something.”
She spoke at a Council on American-Islamic Relations (CAIR) fundraiser last month where she called for other Muslim Americans to “make people uncomfortable” with their activism and presence in society and further criticized the Jewish state. Another part of the speech surfaced on social media in which Omar described the terror attacks.
“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,” Omar said. However, CAIR was actually founded in 1994 and they started advocating more after 9/11 simply because of the way many Muslims were treated after the attacks.
The New York Post responded to her comments by putting an image of the burning buildings on the front page and responding, “Here’s your something.” 2,977 people dying on the greatest attack on American soil by radical Muslim extremists known as Al Qaeda is much more than “some people doing something.”
Omar’s words describing the worst day in American history give it no meaning of significance and was simply too flippant. If she realized how offensive this is to all Americans, all she would have to do is apologize and clarify what she meant. Omar knows exactly what she is doing and she is spinning and doubling down on her words.
What this is is a complete brazen display of disrespect and her words of “some people did something” diminish not only the nearly 3,000 Americans who lost their lives to Islamic terrorists but the men and women who went to fight for America following this horrific day. I have learned to not be surprised by Omar’s comments and her irresponsible actions as a sitting member of Congress, but this crosses the line for me on a personal level.
Following the 9/11 attacks, my own cousin left to do his part for America and our freedom and never came home. Her words disrespect the actions of heroes like him and others. The bravery of men like my cousin is true bravery not speaking these words and hiding behind your tweets. His actions and legacy along with the lives of many others are what gives freedom for people like her to say this.
Omar’s words and actions are nothing short of shameful and problematic for the Democratic Party. The scars of 9/11 on America will never fade and how America has responded unifies us all, not divisive comments like this.
