Ilhan Omar: Trump’s ‘Racist Trope’ an Attempt to Cover-Up His ‘Lawlessness’

Monday on MSNBC’s “The Rachel Maddow Show,” Rep. Ilhan Omar (D-MN) said President Donald Trump tweets, which began with the president asking progressive lawmakers to “go back and fix the totally broken and crime-infested places from which they came,” was an attempt to cover up his lawlessness.

Omar said, “Many of us, as I said today when we are brown and black in this country have been subjected to the old racist trope of go back to where you came from whether it happens at a school playground or inside the hallway or someone shouting at you in the street. And many of us have had our responses. And now today and yesterday we had to figure out how to respond to it coming from the president of the United States. We were reminded, something that my 7-year-old says, ‘Does he know he is the president of the United States?’ We had to make sure to let him know that here in this country, we see everyone, we welcome everyone, and we remind everyone not going to allow him to continue his throwing of the pile of garbage that comes out of his mouth that allows for the media to be distracted truly from delivering the kind of inside investigation into the lawlessness that is of his administration, the constant human rights violations and the policies that are detrimental to our existence in this country and the harm that he is causing on a daily basis to our Constitution and the existence of our country.”

On her calls for impeachment, Omar said, “We are suggesting he committed high crimes and misdemeanors and it’s about time we start the process and impeach this president. As Ayanna said, he is an occupant and does not rise to the level of what we expect in our president too. And it’s time for us to make sure that the United States has a president they can be proud of, someone who understands the responsibility of a president and someone who carries it out. Look, we have a president that truly believes that if you say something that he doesn’t agree with that you should no longer have the opportunity to exercise your First Amendment rights. This is a president who himself has said our country and its leaders are dumb. This is a president who said the state of New Hampshire is a drug-infested den. This is a president who speaks about how dirty our streets are and how inept we are as a nation. And doesn’t really offer any solution in dealing with that. He abdicates his responsibility in trying to set the course on what makes our country live up to its ideals. Here we are as members of Congress doing the work that will get us the country we all deserve, one that is truly functioning for all of us, that sees and values every single person in it and one that is making sure that our shiny and wonderful Constitution is fully intact and the protections offered is enjoyed by all of us.”

Follow Pam Key on Twitter @pamkeyNEN

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