Rep. Ilhan Omar has repeatedly drawn controversy for her comments on Israel, which some lawmakers from both sides have condemned as anti-Semitic. | Susan Walsh/AP Photo white house Trump escalates his attacks on Omar after Pelosi ups her security The president also goes after the House speaker, saying she has ‘lost all control of Congress.’

President Donald Trump on Monday escalated his verbal attacks on Rep. Ilhan Omar, less than 24 hours after House Speaker Nancy Pelosi announced she is seeking protection for the Minnesota congresswoman due to increased death threats following tweets from the president.

"Before Nancy, who has lost all control of Congress and is getting nothing done, decides to defend her leader, Rep. Omar, she should look at the anti-Semitic, anti-Israel and ungrateful U.S. HATE statements Omar has made," Trump tweeted. "She is out of control, except for her control of Nancy!"


Pelosi on Sunday announced that U.S. Capitol Police and the House sergeant-at-arms “are conducting a security assessment to safeguard" Omar, her family and staff after Trump tweeted an edited video of the Minnesota Democrat superimposed over images of the 9/11 terrorist attacks.

“We will never forget,” Trump's wrote on Friday in the tweet that included the edited video.

Trump's video tweet came after Omar made remarks about the civil liberties of Muslims in the United States, during which she referred to the 9/11 terrorist attacks by saying "some people did something."

Omar, one of the first Muslim women to be elected to Congress, has received backlash for her comment, including from several Republicans and conservative commentators.

However, a number of Democrats, including freshman Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, have come to Omar's defense. Also, other politicians, including former President George W. Bush, haven't always referred to the 9/11 attackers as terrorists.

Leaders of the Congressional Black Caucus, of which Omar is a member, held a conference call Monday to express their support for Omar and encourage the president to stand down.

“In our opinion, this only furthers to put her life in danger,“ said Rep. Karen Bass (D-Calif.), chairwoman of the CBC. Bass added that it was “inappropriate“ for Republicans to resurrect a speech Omar made nearly a month ago and parse one sentence from her entire remarks.

“There has been occasions when she’s made comments that she’s apologized for,“ Bass added. “This is certainly not one of them.“

Rep. Bennie Thompson (D-Miss.), a senior member of the CBC and chairman of the House Homeland Security Committee, said he followed Pelosi in requesting security for Omar both in Washington and back home in her district.

“Members of Congress should be free to give their opinions on subjects without the constant fear of threats or any other bodily harm,“ Thompson told reporters on Monday.

“This notion that somehow if your thinking is different from the president‘s, then you become a target. There are far more things that we can deal with in America that should require the president’s attention than the comments of a member of Congress.“

Rep. Andre Carson (D-Ind.), who like Omar is Muslim, called the added security “overdue,“ saying he first spoke to Omar about the possibility of additional protection a month ago. Carson also criticized the House sergeant-at-arms, who he said is “too slow to respond to death threats as it relates to certain members of Congress.“

“All of us are incredibly inspired by Ilhan’s bravery … as she really continues to face this onslaught of hatred and Islamophobia,” Carson added, noting that he spoke to Omar again on Sunday. “For the president of the United States to use the images from [9/11] to smear Rep. Omar as a means to score cheap political points and to shore up support amongst his base is just plain wrong, especially as a New Yorker.“

Omar‘s spokesman did not respond to a request for comment on Trump‘s latest tweet on Monday. But Omar on Sunday evening said in a statement that "since the President’s tweet Friday evening, I have experienced an increase in direct threats on my life — many directly referencing or replying to the President’s video."

"Violent rhetoric and all forms of hate speech have no place in our society, much less from our country's Commander in Chief," she said in the statement. "We are all Americans. This is endangering lives. It has to stop."

Earlier this month, a Trump supporter from upstate New York was charged with threatening to shoot Omar. She also was the target of a bomb threat at a Muslim-American civil rights event last month in Los Angeles.

The Minnesota congresswoman has repeatedly drawn controversy for her comments on Israel, which some lawmakers from both sides have condemned as anti-Semitic. The House has passed two resolutions that served as rebukes of her remarks, one specifically rejecting anti-Semitism and another combating hate speech.

Trump also previously tweeted that Omar's remarks calling White House aide Stephen Miller a "white nationalist" were anti-Semitic, even though several Democratic lawmakers made similar comments about Miller, who is Jewish.

The president's tweet on Monday was also notable for its verbal assault against Pelosi. Even though Trump has repeatedly tussled with her on legislation, including a spending bill impasse that led to the longest federal shutdown in history, he generally has been restrained in his comments about Pelosi.

But tensions have been increasing since House Democrats started opening investigations into Trump and his associates. Over the weekend, Trump called out Pelosi after she commented during a “60 Minutes“ interview on CBS on Sunday that “there’s nobody in the country who knows better that he should not be president of the United States than Donald Trump."

“Such a ‘puff piece‘ on Nancy Pelosi by @60minutes, yet her leadership has passed no meaningful Legislation. All they do is Investigate, as it turns out, crimes that they instigated & committed,“ Trump tweeted. “The Mueller No Collusion decision wasn’t even discussed — and she was a disaster at W.H.“