Politics - News Analysis

Trump Applauds the ‘Great People’ Who Chanted ‘Send Her Back’ at Ilhan Omar

Donald Trump showered praise upon the crowd who launched into a “Send her back!” chant directed towards Rep. Ilhan Omar during the president’s Wednesday night rally in North Carolina.

Chilling footage of the president’s supporters chanting about Omar—a U.S. citizen who moved from Somalia as a child—has been shown around the world.

Predictably, Trump praised their actions, writing late Wednesday: “Just returned to the White House from the Great State of North Carolina. What a crowd, and what great people. The enthusiasm blows away our rivals on the Radical Left. 2020 will be a big year for the Republican Party!”

The chant echoed a series of racist tweets fired off by Trump against four progressive Democratic lawmakers that include Omar, Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, Rashida Tlaib, and Rep. Ayanna Pressley.

Trump seemed to walk back some of his praise on Thursday morning though.

Trump was asked about the chant on Thursday in the Oval Office, and while he said he “felt a little bit badly about it,” he also referred to his supporters in pointing out that he “didn’t say that, they did.” Trump also claimed he “started speaking very quickly” to shut down the chants.

Yet as a video of the situation reveals, Trump actually waited for at least 13 seconds before starting to speak again. And when he did, he only continued to criticize Omar.

Omar responded to the chants by calling Trump a racist.

“We have said this president is racist. We have condemned his racist remarks. I believe he is fascist,” Omar said. “I want to remind people that this is what this president and his supporters have torn our country, that is supposed to be a country where we allow democratic debate and dissent to take place. And so, this is not about me; this is about us fighting for what this country truly should be.”

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