Democrats accuse the New York Post of 'incitement' against Rep. Ilhan Omar with cover of the Twin Towers collapsing on 9/11
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Reps. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (left) and Ilhan Omar.
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.""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."
Read more: Rep. Ilhan Omar's comments about Israel are consuming Congress with Trump, Pelosi, and Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez all taking sidesRep. 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.
I'm aghast that the NY Post would use this photo - the moment of death of hundreds of my fellow NYers - to score a cheap political point.
This is beyond grotesque. It's shameful. pic.twitter.com/dxrIEWC62B
- Dan Lavoie (@djlavoie) April 11, 2019
Fox News + The New York Post are owned by Rupert Murdoch who wants white people to fear @IlhanMN, @AOC, and people of color so much that we never come together to tax billionaires like him.
Murdoch drives up hate, so people like him can thrive off our divisions. Divide and rule. pic.twitter.com/uDAJGrtRhY
- Waleed Shahid (@_waleedshahid) April 11, 2019
This is dangerous incitement, given the death threats I face. I hope leaders of both parties will join me in condemning it.
My love and commitment to our country and that of my colleagues should never be in question. We are ALL Americans! pic.twitter.com/foTZMpiZKv
- Ilhan Omar (@IlhanMN) April 10, 2019
This puts me in danger every time.
Almost every time this uncalled for rhetoric gets blasted by conserv. grps, we get a spike in death threats to refer to Capitol Police.
Multiple ppl have been arrested trying to harm me, Ilhan, & others.@GOP, what's it going to take to stop? https://t.co/vpous77RbT
- Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (@AOC) April 10, 2019
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