Thursday on MSNBC’s “Live,” Rep. Rashida Tlaib (D-MI) defended Rep. Ilhan Omar (D-MN) for her recent comments describing the September 11, 2001 terror attacks as “some people did something.”

Tlaib said, “They do that all the time, they take our words out of context because they’re afraid because we speak truth, we speak truth to power. My sister Ilhan Omar, what she was talking about up lifting people by supporting their civil liberties and civil rights. She has always, always condemned any strategy, especially of a person directly impacted by being a refugee herself. She sees what terrorism can do, she sees what violence can do to a whole country, to a whole people. Taking it out of context, this is just pure racist act by many of those, hateful acts by those because she does speak truth when she talks about different issues they don’t disagree with.”

She continued, “I’m really outraged. As a person that has gotten direct death threats myself, I know her life is put in more danger and I see her not just my sister and colleague, but a mother of three. I can’t imagine their lives without her. The fact that people are taking those words out of context and endanger the life of Rep. Omar is immoral, wrong and needs to be called out by many colleagues in saying they need to stop, stop targeting her this way. It’s absolutely putting her life in danger.”

She added, “I’m not for policing people. That’s what they’re doing to us women of color. Think about it, this is a diverse class. They’ve never had a woman who was a refugee. These are real life impactful stories that come with us. This is not about a Congress that looks different but we serve differently. It’s an institution that is not ready for people like us. Real people. We’re just like any other Americans. When I talk about my immigrant mother, when I talk about my grandmother in Palestine, when I talk about living in poverty in the city of Detroit. All of those things are so important in being at that table.”

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