WASHINGTON, Jan 28: US President Donald Trump suggested that American Congresswoman Ilhan Omar, who wears a hijab, staged an attack during her town hall meeting on Tuesday night in Minneapolis, Minnesota. During the event, a man sprayed her with an unknown substance.
“I don’t think about her. I think she’s a fraud,” Trump told ABC News. “She probably had herself sprayed, knowing her,” he added, though without providing evidence.
When asked if he had seen video footage of the incident, the president replied, “I haven’t seen it. No, no. I hope I don’t have to bother.”
A livestream of the town hall captured the moment when a man stood up and shouted at Ms. Omar, a Democrat, while she was advocating for the resignation or impeachment of US Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem. The suspect was tackled and arrested after spraying Ms. Omar.
Despite the incident, Ms. Omar continued with the town hall and stated, “They are not going to get away with it.”
Following the event, she adopted a more defiant tone, saying, “I’ve survived war and I’m definitely going to survive intimidation or whatever these people think they can throw at me, because I’m built that way.”
Later on Tuesday, the Minnesota Democrat took to the social platform X to assure her followers, “I’m ok. I’m a survivor so this small agitator isn’t going to intimidate me from doing my work.”
“I don’t let bullies win,” she added. “Grateful to my incredible constituents who rallied behind me. Minnesota strong.”
Trump has consistently directed xenophobic attacks at Ms. Omar, the only Somali American serving in Congress. Just hours before the incident on Tuesday, he criticized her again during a speech in Iowa.
“She comes from a country that’s a disaster,” the president stated to the crowd. “It’s considered, I think, the worst [country]. It’s not even a country.”
