The United States President Donald Trump praised the crowd at his rally who shouted racist chants against Congresswomen Ilhan Omar. On Friday, a day after he tried to distance himself from the widely condemned event, Trump came out saying the crowd was full of “incredible patriots.”
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The president was also “unhappy with the fact that a congresswoman can hate our country,” and the people in his rally who chanted “send her back” are the patriots.
However, Trump Thursday falsely said that he tried to stop the crowd from chanting saying that he was not “happy with” the chant and disagreed with it.
Despite being criticized that his comments about the four minority congresswomen known as “the squad”, are racist, Trump went on an extended tirade about the lawmakers but especially focusing on Ilhan Omar the Somalian-American lawmaker.
Encouraged by Trump, the crowd at his reelection rally Wednesday chanted “Send her back” giving rise to viral social media campaign #IStandWithIlhan where politicians and activists came together in solidarity with Ilhan Omar.
At the rally in Greenville, North Carolina Trump also attacked the other three of the squad-Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, Ayanna Pressley and Rashida Tlaib asking them to leave the country if they did not like his policies on issues such as immigration and defending Israel.
"We are going to continue to be a nightmare to this president because his policies are a nightmare to us. We are not deterred. We are not frightened," Omar said Thursday.
After the attacks, when Ilhan arrived in her home state of Minnesota Thursday, she was greeted by a crowd of supporters chanting “welcome home Ilhan.”
“The statements by President Trump against Congresswoman Ilhan Omar and her colleagues are racist,” said Minneapolis city council member Abdi Warsame.
“What’s happening right now is so horrifying that standing with her in solidarity is so important,” said Rita Farmer, a fifth-district resident from north-east Minneapolis. “Not only to send a message to her that we support her but to the rest of the world that we stand by her.”
“I’m proud of Ilhan Omar,” Mara Glubka, an activist from the congresswoman’s state said. “If there’s any ‘sending back’ that’s gonna happen, it’s gonna be sending her back to the United States Congress.”