In a shocking interview with CNN, far-left Democratic Rep. Ilhan Omar (D-MN) doubled down on claims she made Wednesday on Twitter that President Donald Trump is “blackmailing” Sen. Lindsey Graham into supporting his immigration reform plans.
Omar began peddling the conspiracy theory Wednesday, announcing on Twitter that Graham had been “compromised” and that he could not be trusted, echoing another conspiracy-peddling account excoriating Graham for supporting Trump’s proposal for a border wall after speaking out against Trump’s “travel ban” that greatly reduced visas granted to citizens of countries known to sponsor or fund terrorist organizations.
They got to him, he is compromised! https://t.co/m8sB3EmElg
— Ilhan Omar (@IlhanMN) January 16, 2019
Instead of responding to the immediate backlash of criticism warning Omar not to cash in on vicious rumors, Omar accepted an appearance on CNN for Thursday morning, where she doubled down on her accusations.
On CNN, Ilhan Omar tries to defend tweet in which she called Lindsey Graham “compromised,” saying, “I’m pretty sure there’s something happening w/him…he is somehow compromised”
After host points out she has no evidence for her claim, Omar walks it back, says it’s “her opinion” pic.twitter.com/HefwlOE3mW
— Aaron Rupar (@atrupar) January 17, 2019
That’s when the hosts tried to get to the real meat of her claim … and failed. Instead, Omar brushed off the criticism and suggested that “many Americans” understand precisely what she was saying when she tweeted her warning, though she gave no evidence to support her claims.
Tom Elliott of Grabien media put it bluntly:
Rep. Omar: “Lots of Americans” agree with me that Trump is blackmailing Sen. Graham over his homosexuality pic.twitter.com/xPMAUHSLYE
— Tom Elliott (@tomselliott) January 17, 2019
The Republican National Committee responded immediately.
National Committeewoman Harmeet K. Dhillon tweeted, “Breathtaking bigotry, homophobia from a member of Congress. It’s not funny, and puzzling why Dems get away with outdated stereotypes and dumb conspiracy theories like this.”
Others on social media pointed out that Omar was viciously employing a slur about Graham’s private life that has dogged Graham for his entire career. “Is this a reference to the prominent & pernicious homophobic rumor that is circulating the internet? Because I might expect that from a troll, but you’re a Congresswoman.”
Omar is far from the only individual who has lobbed a bigoted slur at Graham this week. MSNBC’s Stephanie Ruhle made a similar remark, according to Fox News.
“It could be that Donald Trump or somebody knows something pretty extreme about Lindsey Graham,” Ruhle said. “We’re gonna leave it there.”
Omar has yet to clarify her statements or apologize.
