Right now Donald Trump has a video pinned to his Twitter account that politicizes 9/11. It takes remarks by Congresswoman Ilhan Omar said and intersperses them with graphic videos showing the Twin Towers coming down. Whether what Omar said was right or wrong can be debated, but the reality is Donald Trump is using 9/11 as a political ploy. Several leading Democrats also jumped to Omar’s defense saying the video could cause someone to harm Omar.
The memory of 9/11 is sacred ground, and any discussion of it must be done with reverence. The President shouldn’t use the painful images of 9/11 for a political attack.
— Nancy Pelosi (@SpeakerPelosi) April 13, 2019
The President is inciting violence against a sitting Congresswoman—and an entire group of Americans based on their religion. It's disgusting. It's shameful. And any elected leader who refuses to condemn it shares responsibility for it.
— Elizabeth Warren (@ewarren) April 13, 2019
Ilhan Omar is a leader with strength and courage. She won't back down to Trump's racism and hate, and neither will we. The disgusting and dangerous attacks against her must end.
— Bernie Sanders (@BernieSanders) April 13, 2019
Just last week a Trump supporter was arrested for threatening to kill Omar. CNN’s Victor Blackwell talked to Donald Trump’s Campaign Advisory Board member Steve Rogers about this asking whether the President should tone down his rhetoric. Here’s part of the exchange:
SR: The president is not responsible for the actions of other people.
VB: The president is not responsible for his words? If he insights violence, is he not responsible for those words?
SR: I have been to his rallies. I have been all over the place with him. He has never incite violence. He has never, ever suggested that acts against each other.
VB: That is absolutely untrue. That is absolutely untrue. There is video. We have seen the president say that with the good ole days that people would be taken out in stretchers at his rallies, during the 2016 campaign. We have seen him say what he would like to do is punch somebody in the face. We have seen him promise to pay for legal bills for people if they were to attack a protester at a rally. What you are saying there simply is not true.
Watch the exchange above.
