The only thing worse than a malicious lie is the people who try to keep it alive even after it has been thoroughly discredited.

And that’s exactly what Rep. Ilhan Omar, D-Minn., did Tuesday evening when she repeated a series of disproven allegations leveled against a group of Covington Catholic High School students who attended the March for Life last week. They were falsely accused this weekend of “mobbing” Nathan Phillips, a Native American protester — footage of the incident shows otherwise.

“The boys were protesting a woman's right to choose & yelled ‘it’s not rape if you enjoy it,’” the congresswoman said in a since-deleted tweet.

Her comments were made specifically in response to President Trump, who also tweeted Tuesday in reference to the March for Life incident that “the students of Covington have become symbols of Fake News and how evil it can be. They have captivated the attention of the world, and I know they will use it for the good - maybe even to bring people together. It started off unpleasant, but can end in a dream!”

Rep. Omar’s tweet also claimed, falsely, that the Covington students “were taunting 5 Black men before they surrounded Phillips and led racist chants.”

Her note concluded with a reference to Nick Sandmann, the most visible student from the March for Life incident, claiming the teen’s “family hired a right wing PR firm to write his non-apology” for his interview this week with NBC News’ Savannah Guthrie.





It’s rare when someone manages to get this much wrong in such little space with so few words, but Omar has so far shown a special talent for this sort of thing. Let’s work through her baseless accusations, misleading statements, and outright falsehoods one by one.

First, as far as we know, no one from Covington shouted, “it’s not rape if you enjoy it.” Someone did yell that, which is indefensible, but video of the incident also includes people stressing that the teen who yelled the offending phrase is not a Covington student. This is all the information we have regarding what was yelled and who yelled it — which is to say, Rep. Omar is making an accusation she can’t back up.

Second, the congresswoman’s claim that the students “were taunting 5 Black men” is an outright lie. It was the other way around. The men in the video are members of the Black Israelites, a loathsome fringe hate group, and they were the ones who did the taunting. The Black Israelites called the high school students "crackers," "faggots," and accused them of being pedophiles. They accused the teens of “giving faggots rights.” They threatened the Covington students with violence. They also targeted a black Covington student, calling him a “n-gger” and telling him his classmates were going to murder him and harvest his organs (what?).

Third, Omar's claim that the students “surrounded Phillips and led racist chants” is misleading at best. Phillips approached the teens, banging away on a drum, and only then did the crowd part to form what I guess you could call a drum circle. Also, there is nothing to show the teens led racist chants, contrary to what Phillips told the Washington Post. The most controversial thing that can be seen in footage of the incident is when a few of the students appear to perform the “tomahawk chop" in response to Phillips' provocation.

I'm not going to die on the hill of a technicality like the difference between a chant and a hand motion, but it's clear Omar is misrepresenting what actually happened. She characterizes Phillips as a passive victim of "racist chants." That not accurate. The videos show he instigated the confrontation. What the footage does not show, however, is that the teens chanted things like "build the wall," contra Phillips' claims in subsequent interviews.

Lastly, as to her point about the Sandmann’s hiring a public relations firm: Yes, and? Is enlisting the aid of spin doctors in and of itself a damning action? If so, I look forward to the forthcoming denunciations of the Planned Parenthood media machine, which includes SKD Knickerbocker and Fusion GPS, both of which are hugely successful in getting a submissive press to repeat the abortion provider's talking points.

On Wednesday, Rep. Omar's nonsense tweet regarding the March for Life incident was deleted without explanation or apology.

You know, between showing up late to the Covington smear campaign and the nonsensical, stumbling defense she offered last week of her conspiracy-mongering against Sen. Lindsey Graham, R-S.C., I’d say the congresswoman is not off to a great start.

On the other hand, at least Omar has finally found some "Israelites" she is willing to defend.