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US Muslim representative Ilhan Omar slams Trump's 'Klan' rallies
US Muslim representative Ilhan Omar slams Trump's 'Klan' rallies
'The Squad' member and Minnesota congresswoman likened Donald Trump campaign rallies to racist Ku Klux Klan meets and slammed the incumbent US president for 'bullying' her.
3 min read
Ilhan Omar slammed the departing president and his followers [Getty]
Minnesota Congresswoman Ilhan Omar took aim at Donald Trump's campaign rallies during the elections and likened them to "Klan" meets.
The Muslim Democrat representative described Trump's tactics during the election against President-Elect Joe Biden as "bullying".
Referencing Trump's campaign speeches, Omar told The Washington Post: "On a personal level, I have gotten accustomed to standing up to bullies in my life. And so, on a personal level, it hasn't really impacted me besides having my children be exposed to it, and for the last two months of this election cycle, waking up every single morning to text messages from my siblings asking if I was safe.
"He chose to speak about me at every single rally, it didn't really matter where he was - sometimes multiple times in a day, as he had held his Klan rallies throughout the country," she added.
The Ku Klux Klan, or the KKK, is a white supremacist group formed in the US in response to the abolition of slavery in the 1860s and later opposed civil rights for Black people.
The group, which continues to exist in some manner today, "with its long history of violence, is the oldest and most infamous of American hate groups. Although Black Americans have typically been the Klan's primary target, it also has attacked Jews, immigrants, members of the LGBTQ community and, until recently, Catholics", the Southern Poverty Law Centre, which monitors and catalogues hate groups, said.
Targeted abuse
Ilhan Omar has on several occasions been the recipient of verbal attacks by the conservative elite in the US.
US President Donald Trump launched a "racist attack" against the congresswoman earlier this year due to her Somali background.
The US president attended a rally in Moon Township, Pittsburgh where he accused the Somali-American politician of trying to run the country, in what is seen by critics as a racist attack.
"How about Omar of Minnesota?" he told the crowd.
"We're going to win the state of Minnesota because of her, they say. She's telling us how to run our country. How did you do where you came from? How's your country doing? She's going to tell us - she's telling us how to run our country," he said.
Omar ended up being re-elected in Minnesota.
During a rally in Minnesota the same month, Trump called Omar an "extremist" and accused the Democrats of wanting to allow Somali and Yemeni refugees who he said were coming from "Jihadist regions".
He also called Somali nationals he deported "hardened criminals" who are "back in their country where they can do all the complaining they want".
Ilhan Omar is no fan of the US president. During one lengthy interview, she referred to Trump as a "racist", and said comments he has made about her fuels further racist attacks.
"I happen to embody multiple marginal identities. I'm a woman, I'm black, I'm a refugee, an immigrant, a Muslim and I wear a hijab. And all of those are identities that have been vilified by the right... and weaponised by Donald Trump," the 37-year-old told The Independent at the time.
"For me, that understanding allows me to be resolved in the ways in which I unapologetically show up, advocate for policies that make our country a more equitable society."
Donald Trump refuses to acknowledge that he lost his bid for re-election to Democrat Biden and has launched into a campaign accusing without evidence that the voting and count were fraudulent.
His most recent move was the fire the US government's top election security official, Chris Krebs, who had rejected the president’s unsubstantiated claims of "massive" fraud.
"The recent statement by Chris Krebs on the security of the 2020 Election was highly inaccurate, in that there were massive improprieties and fraud," he wrote in a tweet.
"Therefore, effective immediately, Chris Krebs has been terminated as Director of the Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency."
The Muslim Democrat representative described Trump's tactics during the election against President-Elect Joe Biden as "bullying".
Referencing Trump's campaign speeches, Omar told The Washington Post: "On a personal level, I have gotten accustomed to standing up to bullies in my life. And so, on a personal level, it hasn't really impacted me besides having my children be exposed to it, and for the last two months of this election cycle, waking up every single morning to text messages from my siblings asking if I was safe.
"He chose to speak about me at every single rally, it didn't really matter where he was - sometimes multiple times in a day, as he had held his Klan rallies throughout the country," she added.
The Ku Klux Klan, or the KKK, is a white supremacist group formed in the US in response to the abolition of slavery in the 1860s and later opposed civil rights for Black people.
The group, which continues to exist in some manner today, "with its long history of violence, is the oldest and most infamous of American hate groups. Although Black Americans have typically been the Klan's primary target, it also has attacked Jews, immigrants, members of the LGBTQ community and, until recently, Catholics", the Southern Poverty Law Centre, which monitors and catalogues hate groups, said.
Targeted abuse
Ilhan Omar has on several occasions been the recipient of verbal attacks by the conservative elite in the US.
US President Donald Trump launched a "racist attack" against the congresswoman earlier this year due to her Somali background.
The US president attended a rally in Moon Township, Pittsburgh where he accused the Somali-American politician of trying to run the country, in what is seen by critics as a racist attack.
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"How about Omar of Minnesota?" he told the crowd.
"We're going to win the state of Minnesota because of her, they say. She's telling us how to run our country. How did you do where you came from? How's your country doing? She's going to tell us - she's telling us how to run our country," he said.
Omar ended up being re-elected in Minnesota.
During a rally in Minnesota the same month, Trump called Omar an "extremist" and accused the Democrats of wanting to allow Somali and Yemeni refugees who he said were coming from "Jihadist regions".
He also called Somali nationals he deported "hardened criminals" who are "back in their country where they can do all the complaining they want".
Ilhan Omar is no fan of the US president. During one lengthy interview, she referred to Trump as a "racist", and said comments he has made about her fuels further racist attacks.
"I happen to embody multiple marginal identities. I'm a woman, I'm black, I'm a refugee, an immigrant, a Muslim and I wear a hijab. And all of those are identities that have been vilified by the right... and weaponised by Donald Trump," the 37-year-old told The Independent at the time.
"For me, that understanding allows me to be resolved in the ways in which I unapologetically show up, advocate for policies that make our country a more equitable society."
Donald Trump refuses to acknowledge that he lost his bid for re-election to Democrat Biden and has launched into a campaign accusing without evidence that the voting and count were fraudulent.
His most recent move was the fire the US government's top election security official, Chris Krebs, who had rejected the president’s unsubstantiated claims of "massive" fraud.
"The recent statement by Chris Krebs on the security of the 2020 Election was highly inaccurate, in that there were massive improprieties and fraud," he wrote in a tweet.
"Therefore, effective immediately, Chris Krebs has been terminated as Director of the Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency."
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