Democrats accuse the New York Post of 'incitement' against Rep. Ilhan Omar with cover of the Twin Towers collapsing on 9/11
- The New York Post attacked Rep. Ilhan Omar's controversial remark about the 9/11 terror attacks by covering its front page with her quote and an image of the World Trade Center's Twin Towers collapsing.
- Several prominent Democrats condemned the conservative tabloid, accusing it of bigotry and inciting violence against the Muslim congresswoman, who has increasingly become the target of death threats.
- "The NY Post knows exactly what it's doing - taking quotes out of context and evoking painful imagery to spread hate and endangering the life of Rep. Omar," Rep. Rashida Tlaib tweeted Thursday.
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Democrats condemned the New York Post on Thursday after the conservative tabloid attacked Rep. Ilhan Omar's controversial remark about the 9/11 terror attacks by covering its front page with an image of the World Trade Center's Twin Towers collapsing.
"The NY Post knows exactly what it's doing - taking quotes out of context and evoking painful imagery to spread hate and endangering the life of Rep. Omar," Rep. Rashida Tlaib tweeted Thursday. "Shame on them, and shame on Rupert Murdoch."
Omar, a Minnesota Democrat, faced criticism this week after video emerged of a remark she made in a speech to the Council on American-Islamic Relations (CAIR) late last month.
"For far too long we have lived with the discomfort of being a second-class citizen and, frankly, I'm tired of it, and every single Muslim in this country should be tired of it," Omar told the CAIR gathering, referring to fellow American Muslims. "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."
CAIR was, in fact, actually founded in 1994. Omar's spokesman Jeremy Slevin reportedly said the congresswoman misspoke.
Critics quickly jumped on Omar's statement, accusing her of trivializing the 9/11 attacks. On Wednesday, "Fox and Friends" host Brian Kilmeade questioned whether Omar is loyal to America.
Some Democrats blamed Rupert Murdoch, the right-wing media mogul who owns many American conservative media outlets - including the New York Post and Fox News.
"Rupert Murdoch inciting more fear and hatred of @IlhanMN and Muslims in the New York Post this morning," tweeted Waleed Shahid, the communications director of progressive group Justice Democrats. "Disgusting and dangerous."
"This is incitement," tweeted Matt Duss, Sen. Bernie Sanders' foreign policy adviser.
This comes just days after a New York man was arrested and charged with threatening to assault and murder Omar, according to the US Attorney's Office for the Western District of New York.
Omar defended herself against claims that she's isn't a loyal American on Wednesday night.
"I took an oath to the Constitution. I am as American as everyone else is," Omar said on Stephen Colbert's "The Late Show."
Omar, one of the first two Muslim women to serve in Congress, provoked a high-profile and contentious debate in Washington earlier this year after she made multiple comments critical of Israel that many interpreted as anti-Semitic.
Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, another high-profile freshman lawmaker, has similarly accused Republicans of inciting violence against her. On Wednesday, the Ohio College Republicans referred to Ocasio-Cortez in an email to supporters as a "domestic terrorist."
Ocasio-Cortez tweeted about the attack, arguing that this rhetoric is tied to death threats made against her and other lawmakers, including Omar. The college group later apologized for what they claimed was an "unauthorized" email.