Far-left Democratic Rep. Ilhan Omar doubles down on shocking claims during interview
Newly elected Democratic Rep. Ilhan Omar has doubled down on her shocking claims, accusing President Trump of “blackmailing” Senator Lindsey Graham.
During an interview with CNN, far-left Democrat Omar (D-MN) reaffirmed previous claims she made on Wednesday, claiming that Donald Trump is “blackmailing” Sen. Graham into supporting his immigration reform plans.
Omar started peddling the conspiracy theory via Twitter on Wednesday, by announcing that Graham has been “compromised,” adding that he could not be trusted.
The comments echo another conspiracy-peddling account denouncing Mr. Graham for supporting the president’s proposal for a border wall after speaking out against Trump’s “travel ban” that greatly reduced the number of visas granted to citizens of countries known to sponsor or fund terrorist organizations.
They got to him, he is compromised! https://t.co/m8sB3EmElg
— Ilhan Omar (@IlhanMN) January 16, 2019
According to the Daily Wire, instead of responding to the immediate backlash of criticism warning Omar not to cash in on vicious rumors, Omar accepted an appearance on CNN for Thursday morning, where she doubled down on her accusations.
On CNN, Ilhan Omar tries to defend tweet in which she called Lindsey Graham “compromised,” saying, “I’m pretty sure there’s something happening w/him…he is somehow compromised”
After host points out she has no evidence for her claim, Omar walks it back, says it’s “her opinion” pic.twitter.com/HefwlOE3mW
— Aaron Rupar (@atrupar) January 17, 2019
That’s when the hosts tried to get to the real meat of her claim … and failed.
Instead, Omar brushed off the criticism and suggested that “many Americans” understand precisely what she was saying when she tweeted her warning, though she gave no evidence to support her claims.
Tom Elliott of Grabien media put it bluntly:
Rep. Omar: “Lots of Americans” agree with me that Trump is blackmailing Sen. Graham over his homosexuality pic.twitter.com/xPMAUHSLYE
— Tom Elliott (@tomselliott) January 17, 2019
The Republican National Committee responded immediately.
National Committeewoman Harmeet K. Dhillon tweeted, “Breathtaking bigotry, homophobia from a member of Congress.
“It’s not funny, and puzzling why Dems get away with outdated stereotypes and dumb conspiracy theories like this.”
Others on social media pointed out that Omar was viciously employing a slur about Graham’s private life that has dogged Graham for his entire career.
“Is this a reference to the prominent & pernicious homophobic rumor that is circulating the internet?
“Because I might expect that from a troll, but you’re a Congresswoman.”
Omar is far from the only individual who has lobbed a bigoted slur at Graham this week.
MSNBC’s Stephanie Ruhle made a similar remark, according to Fox News.
“It could be that Donald Trump or somebody knows something pretty extreme about Lindsey Graham,” Ruhle said.
“We’re gonna leave it there.”
Omar has yet to clarify her statements or apologize.