Rep. Ilhan Omar Fires Back at Fox News on Colbert: ‘I Am As American As Everyone Else’

Rep. Ilhan Omar called out Fox News on Wednesday, making it clear she was “as American” as everyone else.

Omar’s comments came during a conversation with Stephen Colbert.

Omar started off by saying that her time in Congress — and the controversy surrounding it — has been a “process” of growth.

She also said that when she causes pain with her words, she will listen.

“When you tell me you are pained by something that I say, I will always listen and I will acknowledge your pain,”  she stressed.

She then turned to comments made about her on Fox News, comments she said have gone largely without rebuke from her colleagues.

“When you have people on Fox News question whether I am actually American or I put ‘America first,’ I expect my colleagues to also say, ‘That’s not OK’, they should condemn that and call that out,” Omar said,  adding it was the same when people call her a “terrorist.”

Then, she said this,  drawing applause: “I took an oath to uphold the Constitution. I am as American as everyone else is.”

The freshman Congresswoman also called out what she says is a double standard where she is held to account for her words, but those on Fox News are not.

“They actually said that I might not be an American, that my loyalties might not be to this country,” Omar stressed, “but I get called out. They don’t. They get to keep their show.”

Speaking on Fox News earlier on Wednesday, host Brian Kilmeade said about Omar, “You have to wonder if she’s an American first.”

In a later tweet, Kilmeade said he did not actually intend to question if she was an American.

Kilmeade’s comment also follows controversial remarks made by Fox’s Jeanine Pirro. Pirro questioned Omar’s hijab and if her religious beliefs run counter to the Constitution.

Fox News condemned Pirro’s remarks and the host was absent from her show for two weeks.