CNN Anchor Drills Down When Ilhan Omar Calls Trump Fans ‘Racist and Xenophobic’: Not ‘All Of His Base, Right?’
CNN anchor Pamela Brown pressed Rep. Ilhan Omar (D-MN) when she called pro-Trump Congressman Brandon Gill’s (R-TX) base “xenophobic and racist,” asking her to clarify “not all of” his base was included in that description.
Gill — an intensely pro-MAGA lawmaker who introduced “The Golden Age Act” to put President Donald Trump on the $100 bill — recently attacked Omar — a U.S. citizen — writing “America would be a better place if @IlhanMN were deported back to Somalia.”
On Monday’s edition of CNN’s The Situation Room, Brown asked about that post, and Omar called it “red meat” for Gill’s MAGA base, which she described as “xenophobic and racist.”
When Brown asked her to clarify “you’re not calling all of his base xenophobic and racist, right?”, Omar did not back down:
BROWN: I want to follow up with something else because we recently had one of your Republican colleagues, Brandon Gill, on the show. He said that America would be better off if you were arrested and deported. He also said that there was audio of you advising what he said, or illegal immigrants here from Somalia, on how to abate ICE detection. I want you to respond to that.
OMAR: Yeah, I mean, again, you know, these are people who have really stopped caring about our institutions, really stopped caring about our Constitution. We know that folks who are here, whether they are documented or undocumented, we know whether you are a permanent resident or you are a citizen, you have constitutional rights, and it is really important for people to know those rights.
I know that it is red meat for his base that are xenophobic and racist to say to them that I am going to find a way to arrest and deport a member of Congress who he thinks is doing something wrong when I am doing the right thing in trying to make sure everybody that is within my constituency has the resources and the information that they need.
BLITZER: And she was democratically elected by members, by the people in her district.
BROWN: Yes, of course. But just to follow up very quickly, just to be clear, you’re not calling all of his base xenophobic and racist, right?
OMAR: Well, I mean, he is feeding to something. He has a petition out. He’s getting donations. That’s what this is all about. He knows he can’t deport me. There is no grounds for my arrest. So this information is only being put out there by him for a reason, and that reason is because he has a base that feeds off of that.
BLITZER: Congresswoman Ilhan Omar, thanks so much for coming in.
OMAR: I appreciate you all for having me.
Watch above via CNN’s The Situation Room.
