Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, D-N.Y., and Rep. Rashida Tlaib, D-Mich., have both jumped to the defense of their under fire fellow freshman Democrat Ilhan Omar, saying Thursday her comment in reference to 9/11 has been wildly taken out of context.
Omar, D-Minn., is facing backlash after a speech at a Muslim rights group’s event in which she described the September 11, 2001, terror attacks as “some people did something”.
The comment has drawn ire from the likes of Rep. Dan Crenshaw, R-Tx, and the New York Post, which published a dramatic front page Thursday with an infamous photo of New York City’s Twin Towers on fire on the day of the attacks.
The page read: “Here’s your something: 2,977 people dead by terrorism.”
Tlaib, when asked by MSNBC if Omar should have rethought her words, said that she had been taken out of context.
“They do that all the time, especially women of color, they take our words out of context because they’re afraid because we speak truth, we speak truth to power,” Tlaib said.
“My sister Ilhan Omar, what she was talking about, was uplifting people by supporting their civil liberties and civil rights. She has always, always condemned any strategy, especially of a person directly impacted by being a refugee herself.
Tlaib added that she was “outraged” because she believes it would lead to death threats for Omar.
“The fact that people are taking those words out of context and endangering the life of Rep. Omar is immoral, it’s wrong and it needs to be called out by many colleagues in saying they need to stop, stop targeting her this way. It’s absolutely putting her life in danger.”