Rep. Ilhan Omar (D-MN) used iconic words former president George W. Bush made at Ground Zero atop a heap of rubble in New York City in September 2001 to defend her widely-criticized remarks trivializing the 9/11 terrorist attack that claimed thousands of American lives.
Giving a speech at an event for the Council on American-Islamic Relations (CAIR) in March, Omar referred to the atrocity of 9/11 as being an instance where “some people did something.”
The Democrat posted the outrageous defense in a tweet published on Friday:
“The people — and the people who knocked these buildings down will hear all of us soon!” President George W. Bush
Was Bush downplaying the terrorist attack?
Predictably, Omar then suggested her criticism derives from her being Muslim: “What if he was a Muslim?” she added to the tweet.
The freshman congresswoman’s defense received swift backlash online, since, of course, no one in his right mind would suggest then-President Bush was downplaying anything. Bush was simply threatening those who carried out the attack in its immediate aftermath — directly the opposite of Omar’s callous trivialization.
As provided by Marketwatch, here are Mr. Bush’s full comments at Ground Zero:
President Bush: I want you all to know that America today, America today is on bended knee, in prayer for the people whose lives were lost here, for the workers who work here, for the families who mourn. The nation stands with the good people of New York City and New Jersey and Connecticut as we mourn the loss of thousands of our citizens
Rescue Worker: I can’t hear you!
President Bush: I can hear you! I can hear you! The rest of the world hears you! And the people — and the people who knocked these buildings down will hear all of us soon!
Here are Rep. Omar’s controversial 9/11 comments in context (emphasis added):
Here’s the truth. For far too long we have lived with the discomfort of being a second-class citizen and, frankly, I’m tired of it, and every single Muslim in this country should be tired of it. CAIR was founded after 9/11 because they recognized that some people did something and that all of us were starting to lose access to our civil liberties. So you can’t just say that today someone is looking at me strange and that I am trying to make myself look pleasant. You have to say that this person is looking at me strange, I am not comfortable with it, and I am going to talk to them and ask them why. Because that is the right you have.
Americans, particularly New Yorkers, were angered by Omar’s comments. On Thursday, for example, The New York Post ran a scathing cover and editorial blasting the Democrat for such trivialization:
It appears the cover, coupled with the endless commentary blasting Omar, triggered the Democrat into posting such a ridiculous tweet on Friday. But she did nothing to calm the waters. Instead, politicos online reacted to Omar’s Bush comparison with justified outrage:
“Here’s the clip of GWB when he visited Ground Zero on September 21, 2001. Maybe [Rep. Omar] will watch it and gain some understanding of the absurdity of comparing her comments with his,” posted The Washington Examiner’s Jay Caruso:
One America News Network host Liz Wheeler wrote, “Remember that time Prez Bush stood on the rubble of the Twin Towers & flippantly waved his hand & described his surroundings as ‘some people did something?’ OH WAIT NO… that disgusting description was from you. Bush beat the hell out of the terrorists. You trivialized them.”
“I am going to enjoy watching the people who threw their lot in with her being forced to die on these hills over and over,” said the popular anonymous commentator known as “Neontaster.”
Foreign policy advisor Nile Gardiner reacted, “Another appalling remark from [Rep. Omar]. A complete absence of compassion for the thousands who died on 9/11 at the hands of Islamist terrorists.”
Daily Wire Editor-in-Chief Ben Shapiro pointed out the obvious: “That quote was Bush THREATENING the perpetrators of 9/11, not downplaying their evil.”