Freshman Rep. Ilhan Omar, D-Minn., is facing a social media backlash for going after Covington Catholic students anew Tuesday night, even after many in the media acknowledged initially misreporting on their widely viewed confrontation with a Native-American elder in Washington last week.
Media figures initially seized on the viral confrontation between the group of students and Native-American elder Nathan Phillips. The initial clip appeared to show students antagonizing him, but additional video then emerged offering context, including that Phillips approached them amid a confrontation between the students and Black Hebrew Israelite protesters. The students pushed back on the initial criticism, and many of those critics have since retracted their statements — but others have revived the criticism.
Omar weighed in on the subject, responding to President Trump’s tweet defending Covington student Nick Sandmann and his peers — by claiming they were taunting the black protesters despite accounts to the contrary and citing a videotaped comment about rape, though it’s unclear whether it was one of the Covington students who said it.
-The boys were protesting a woman’s right to choose & yelled “it’s not rape if you enjoy it”
-They were taunting 5 Black men before they surrounded Phillips and led racist chants
-Sandmann’s family hired a right wing PR firm to write his non-apology 🤦🏽♀️https://t.co/fG8AUCuDTr https://t.co/bOA6yFsIjW— Ilhan Omar (@IlhanMN) January 23, 2019
Omar faced plenty of criticism for her tweet, with many calling her a “liar.”
Wow. This is mind-bendingly false. https://t.co/7lRJPCBHbZ
— Guy Benson (@guypbenson) January 23, 2019
Vile tweet. The kid who made who made the rape comment wasn’t Covington Catholic. The black adults were viciously taunting the kids with racist and homophobic comments.
Oh and any sane kid would use PR help if he could to write the most important statement of his young life. https://t.co/WjYW1hzdwD
— David French (@DavidAFrench) January 23, 2019
You are a shameless liar!
Not only did the boys not taunt the “5 black men,” but it was actually the 5 members of the Black Hebrew Israelites who taunted not only the boys, but other black men AND women who tried to interject & stop their racial slurs against Native Americans! pic.twitter.com/OqDqxqGr0I
— The Reagan Battalion (@ReaganBattalion) January 23, 2019
Oh yikes
— Allie Beth Stuckey (@conservmillen) January 23, 2019
The militant black supremacist lunatics who call themselves the Black Hebrew Israelites are a well known hate group, FYI. I’m sure you have a lot in common with them.
— Mark Dice (@MarkDice) January 23, 2019
You’re a liar.
Hebrew Israelites to students:
– “child-molesting f*ggots”
– “dirty a** crackers”
– “dusty a** crackers
– “racist bastards” (same people calling students dirty crackers 🤔)
– Oh, and they called other black people ‘n***ers’Honestly, how are you this shameless?
— Chet Cannon (@Chet_Cannon) January 23, 2019
The newly elected representative was also criticized for a tweet claiming that Sen. Lindsey Graham, R-S.C., was “compromised,” admitting later to CNN that it was an “opinion.”
