The New York Post wrote on the cover of their April 11 issue, and in the subsequent editorial, that Rep. Ilhan Omar (D-Minn.) trivialized the 9/11 terror attacks during her March 23 speech at a Council on American-Islamic Relations (CAIR) event in Los Angeles.
Omar said during the speech, “For far too long, we [Muslims] have lived with the discomfort of being a second-class citizen and, frankly, I’m tired of it, and every Muslim in this country should be tired of it. 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.”
The New York Post’s April 11 cover had, in response to Omar, “Here’s your something: 2,977 people dead by terrorism.”
The New York Post's cover for Thursday calls out Ilhan Omar for trivializing the 9/11 terrorist attacks as "some people did something" pic.twitter.com/xToghXSGw5
— Ryan Saavedra (@RealSaavedra) April 11, 2019
The Post’s editorial stated, “Wow. What a way to describe the heinous surprise attack on America that claimed 3,000 lives. Especially when Omar’s focus was Muslim rights: That made it all the more vital to note that the terrorists acted in the name of Islam — as self-described ‘jihadists’ in a war against America, Israel and the West.”
“To call them merely ‘some people’ is to deny a cancer festering in the world Muslim community,” the editorial said.
The editorial went on to further criticize Omar for saying in her speech that there is an expectation that the Muslim community “needs to hide every time something happens.”
“Again, by ‘something happens,’” she means (but won’t say) “when Muslims commit acts of terror,” the editorial states. “No one expects Muslims to ‘hide’ after an attack by Islamist terrorists. No group should be blamed for the deeds of a few of its members. But defeating terrorism requires facing the facts of who’s behind it and why.”
The editorial also pointed out that CAIR was formed in 1994 and that they have been listed as “an unindicted co-conspirator in a plot to steer US funds to the terror group Hamas.” Jeremy Slevin, Omar’s communications director, told The Washington Post that Omar meant to say “that the organization had doubled in size after the Sept. 11 attacks.”
Rep. Rashida Tlaib (D-Mich.) defended Omar in an April 11 MSNBC appearance by saying that Omar’s comments were taken “out of context” because Omar “was talking about civil liberties and civil rights issues.”
Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (D-N.Y.) tweeted in defense of Omar stating, “I’m not going to quote the NY Post’s horrifying, hateful cover. Here’s 1 fact: @IlhanMN is a cosponsor of the 9/11 Victim Compensation Fund. She‘s done more for 9/11 families than the GOP who won’t even support healthcare for 1st responders- yet are happy to weaponize her faith.”
I’m not going to quote the NY Post’s horrifying, hateful cover.
Here’s 1 fact: @IlhanMN is a cosponsor of the 9/11 Victim Compensation Fund. She‘s done more for 9/11 families than the GOP who won’t even support healthcare for 1st responders- yet are happy to weaponize her faith.
— Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (@AOC) April 11, 2019
Omar is one of 213 co-sponsors of the aforementioned legislation; she is not one of the original sponsors.
However, Rep. Lee Zeldin (R-N.Y.), told the Washington Free Beacon, “It is deeply disturbing that a sitting Member of Congress would trivialize the deaths of thousands of Americans, one of the most pivotal events in U.S. history.” Rep. Dan Crenshaw (R-Tex.), who lost his right eye while serving in Afghanistan in 2012, tweeted, “First Member of Congress to ever describe terrorists who killed thousands of Americans on 9/11 as ‘some people who did something.’ Unbelievable.”
First Member of Congress to ever describe terrorists who killed thousands of Americans on 9/11 as “some people who did something”.
Unbelievable. https://t.co/IKtoZWWmIT
— Dan Crenshaw (@DanCrenshawTX) April 9, 2019
Omar has not directly addressed the New York Post editorial publicly, but she did re-tweet a tweet from Rep. Ayanna Pressley (D-Mass.) stating, “@Ilhan full comments clearly speak to post 9/11 #Islamophobia Manipulating her remarks is defaming & dangerous for her & her family. Stop with this recklessness.”
@Ilhan full comments clearly speak to post 9/11 #Islamophobia Manipulating her remarks is defaming & dangerous for her & her family. Stop with this recklessness. @rupertmurdoch this is on you – stoking hate, fear & division, putting REAL lives at risk. Shame on you. https://t.co/fpemnGxQKk
— Ayanna Pressley (@AyannaPressley) April 11, 2019
