Reps. Ilhan Omar (D-Minn.) and Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (D-N.Y.) have responded to comments made by President Donald Trump during one of his rallies on July 17.
Trump at a “Keep America Great” rally in North Carolina took time to talk about Omar, listing controversial remarks she’s made in the past about issues such as America’s support for Israel, the ISIS terrorist group, and the Sept. 11 terror attacks.
At one point, the crowd broke into a “send her back” chant.
“They never have anything good to say. That’s why I say, ‘Hey if they don’t like it, let them leave.’ Let them leave,” Trump said about Omar and other lawmakers who are heavily critical of the United States. “They’re always telling us how to run it how to do this—you know what, if they don’t love it, tell them to leave it.”
Trump also took aim at the New York representative, saying her full name before adding: “No, no, I don’t have time to go with three different names, we’ll call her Cortez, it takes too much time.”
He mentioned Ocasio-Cortez’s infamous comparison of U.S. immigration detention facilities to concentration camps. She said “essentially Nazis are running concentration camps,” he added before lauding the conditions at the facilities.
“They have water, they have air conditioning, they have things that they have never seen,” Trump said.
Omar and Ocasio-Cortez were among a number of Democratic lawmakers responding to Trump’s rally.
Omar shared a tweet by former Obama adviser Jon Favreau, adding a poem by Maya Angelou.
You may shoot me with your words,
You may cut me with your eyes,
You may kill me with your hatefulness,
But still, like air, I’ll rise.-Maya Angelou https://t.co/46jcXSXF0B
— Ilhan Omar (@IlhanMN) July 18, 2019
She also retweeted a post by Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-Vt.) and shared a picture of her in the U.S. Capitol.
“I am where I belong, at the people’s house and you’re just gonna have to deal!” she wrote.
???????? I am where I belong, at the people’s house and you’re just gonna have to deal! pic.twitter.com/W0OvDXGxQX
— Ilhan Omar (@IlhanMN) July 18, 2019
In another post, she asked people to sign up at her website to get email updates from her campaign.
Ocasio-Cortez shared Omar’s poem post and later posted her own thoughts: “To all those scared for our future: we can get through this better than we started. We have the power to triumph over hatred, division, and bigotry.”
“But decency cannot be taken for granted. It is something we must create, advance, and actively work to build each and every day,” she added.
To all those scared for our future: we can get through this better than we started.
We have the power to triumph over hatred, division, and bigotry.
But decency cannot be taken for granted. It is something we must create, advance, and actively work to build each and every day.
— Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (@AOC) July 18, 2019
The lawmakers posted on Twitter as the hashtag “#IStandWithIlhan trended on the social media website.
“We are living in dangerous times. Those chanting are not thinking. This is herd mentality,” added another, referring to the “send her back” chant.
#IStandWithIlhan because as an asylum seeker from a war torn nation, this IS her country. We welcome your tired, your sick, your poor. We love them. pic.twitter.com/HvtPAoqbeB
— Dan Moore (@DirtyDanTaxMan) July 18, 2019
“If you hate our country, customs, history and Constitution, you can leave… whether you’re from Sweden or Somalia. It has nothing to do with race whatsoever,” wrote one user, using the hashtag.
“If you can’t appreciate the freedoms and privileges of this great country, then you are free to leave. You won’t find a better country than the U.S.,” added another.
If you can’t appreciate the freedoms and privileges of this great country, then you are free to leave. You won’t find a better country than the U.S. #IStandWithPresTrump
— The RIGHT truth (@Rightsidetruth) July 18, 2019