Rep. Ilhan Omar (D-MN) appeared on an episode of CNN host Wolf Blitzer’s program where she discussed her controversial behavior during President Donald Trump’s State of the Union address. According to the Minnesota Democrat, she has absolutely no regrets about making a spectacle of herself during the event by yelling at the president and violating decorum. Blitzer even gave Omar several opportunities to walk back her behavior, but she only doubled down.
During the interview on “The Situation Room,” following video clips of her out of control behavior being spread all over social media, yelling at Trump while he spoke about immigration enforcement. During the speech, Omar, who was seated next to Rep. Rashida Tlaib (D-MI), yelled and screamed at Trump several times and then accused him of being responsible for the deaths of Renee Good and Alex Pretti.
Both individuals were anti-ICE agitators who interfered with active immigration enforcement operations. Good attempted to run an agent over with her vehicle, while Pretti assaulted an officer. Omar also brought Aliya Rahman as her guest to the event. Rahman was also disruptive during the address. Blitzer brought up House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries advice to his colleagues to either not attend the event or protest silently.
“Should you have just boycotted the address? And do you think you violated the guidelines set out by your own leader?” Blitzer asked the Minnesota congresswoman. Omar immediately said no and stated that her yelling and disruptive behavior was “unavoidable” following the deaths of Good and Pretti. “No, I think it was really unavoidable,” she told the host.
“The president talked about protecting Americans, and I just had to remind him that his administration was responsible for killing two of my constituents,” the congresswoman went on to tell Blitzer. The CNN host gave her another opportunity to recant of her behavior, asking a second time if she felt regret for her actions, noting that Democrats have called out Republicans for similar behavior in the past.
“Many members of your Democratic Party criticized their Republican counterparts when they interrupted President [Joe] Biden’s State of the Union address, as a lot of us remember. Do you have any regrets at all about the interaction we played between you and President Trump just last night?” he asked, according to Yahoo News.
“I do not,” Omar replied. “And I think many people look at that moment when the president says it is our responsibility to protect Americans, and he does not acknowledge the fact that two Americans, two of my constituents, two of our neighbors, were killed. And it was important for me to just remind the American people that the president and his administration were responsible for killing two American citizens.”
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Blitzer asked her a third time if there’s anything she would do differently, such as boycotting the event. She responded by saying, “I brought four Minnesotans as guests for the Minnesota delegation. It was important for us to be there to bear witness, to hold the space for our constituents that have lived through an occupation from federal law enforcement, that have been terrorized, that have seen our neighbors been killed and traumatized in so many ways.”
“And so, no, I think it was really important for my constituents to see me there. It was really important to my constituents to hear that I was reminding the president that Renee Good and Alex Pretti were killed under this administration,” the Minnesota congresswoman said as she wrapped up the eye-opening segment with Blitzer.
Featured Image: screenshot from embedded video