Congresswoman Ilhan Omar (D-Minnesota) — whom President Trump accuses of hating America — co-sponsored the 9/11 first responders’ healthcare bill that Senate Republicans blocked.
The Minneapolis Congresswoman came under attack during Trump’s rally in North Carolina Wednesday night. After doubling down on his attacks on four women of color in Congress known as “The Squad” — Reps. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (D-New York), Omar, Ayanna Pressley (D-Massachusetts), and Rashida Tlaib (D-Michigan) — Trump insisted that if Omar, a Somali refugee who has been a naturalized U.S. citizen longer than First Lady Melania Trump, didn’t like America, she should leave.
This prompted the crowd to chant “send her back” while Trump basked in the chanting. In response to the chant, the hashtag became the #1 trending Twitter hashtag in the United States.
Trump has spent the last several minutes attacking which culminated in the crowd chanting "Send Her Back"
— jordan (@JordanUhl)
While President Trump insists Ilhan Omar hates her adopted home country, Rep. Omar’s recent voting record suggests otherwise. Ilhan Omar is one of 332 House co-sponsors of H.R. 1327, also known as the “Never Forget the Heroes” 9/11 Victims Compensation Fund permanent authorization act. The other three members of The Squad are also co-sponsors, and Rep. Ocasio-Cortez — whose home district is not far from Ground Zero — is one of the 92 original co-sponsors of the act.
An amendment to fast-track that legislation was killed in the Senate on Wednesday, with Senators Rand Paul (R-Kentucky) and Mike Lee (R-Utah) objecting to the legislation over funding concerns. While Paul insisted that he wasn’t block 9/11 first responders’ healthcare and simply wanted the money to be offset with spending cuts made elsewhere, Paul didn’t show the same level of concern , which the non-partisan Congressional Budget Office projected would create a cumulative deficit of nearly $12 trillion by the end of the next decade.
Former Daily Show host Jon Stewart condemned Sens. Paul and Lee in a Fox News interview on Wednesday evening, joined by 9/11 first responder John Feal. Stewart and accused the Kentucky senator of trying to balance the federal budget “on the backs of the 9/11 first responder community.” Feal called Mike Lee a “liar,” and said Lee’s office assured him that the senator would support a permanent extension of 9/11 first responders’ healthcare.
(Featured image: Wikimedia Commons)