On Friday, Mary wrote about Rep. Ilhan Omar’s Obama-bashing interview with Politico. In this interview, Omar told Politico‘s Tim Alberta that, among other things, Obama’s hope and change was a “mirage” and that he got away with the “caging of kids” and with “murder” because he was “polished.”

Upon publication of the piece and the Democrat horror that she had attacked Obama, whom 49% of Democrats think was the best president since WWII, Omar went on the offensive.

Unleashing her considerable Twitter power, Omar posted an audio recording of the Obama section of the interview and wrote in a since-deleted tweet:

Exhibit A of how reporters distort words. I’m an Obama fan! I was saying how Trump is different from Obama, and why we should focus on policy not politics. This is why I always tape my interviews. ???? https://t.co/iZOAEslo1c https://t.co/8rjIq5LfxD

The problem, as Mary noted in her update to her post, is that the recording backs up the Politico report.

This attempt to shame Politico‘s Alberta was so completely unhinged that he clapped back. Hard.

Exhibit A of how politicians use the media as a straw man to avoid owning what they said. Your tape…supports what I wrote 100%. So does my longer tape. It's beyond dispute. Next time, a phone call from your office before the Twitter ambush would be appreciated. https://t.co/eb2grgn5Cd — Tim Alberta (@TimAlberta) March 8, 2019

Here’s a transcript of the audio clip released by Omar.

So @Ilhan Omar has released audio of what she said about Trump and Obama. She claims she was quoted out of context and that she's an Obama fan. Here's the transcript. You be the judge. cc: @blakehounshell @TimAlberta pic.twitter.com/a3IKhh5bAZ — David Martosko (@dmartosko) March 8, 2019

Apparently recognizing that she was violating the first rule of holes, Omar deleted her tweet . . . but not before the damage was done.

Fox News reports:

Rep. Ilhan Omar’s attempt to shame a news outlet for misquoting her blistering attack on former President Barack Obama backfired after she released audio of the interview that only served to confirm her remarks. The Minnesota Democrat, who’s faced controversy over comments perceived as anti-Semitic, got into hot water yet again after saying Obama’s “hope and change” message was a “mirage” and slammed the administration’s drone and border-detention policies. She told Politico that the Obama administration was responsible for the “caging of kids” at the U.S.-Mexico border, the “droning of countries around the world,” and that the 44th president “operated within the same fundamentally broken framework as his Republican successor.” . . . . Following the article’s publication, Omar went on offense on Twitter and accused the outlet’s reporter, Tim Alberta, of distorting her words and insisted that she is, in fact, a fan of Obama. . . . . But the move immediately backfired as the recording actually confirmed the comments she made to the news outlet. By Saturday afternoon, she had deleted the tweet. . . . . Omar’s attempt at shaming a media outlet was called out by the reporter who said the rookie congresswoman tried to bash the media in an effort to avoid the comments she made.

The backlash, including that from the left, was swift.

She needs to do her job thoughtfully and get her attention fix elsewhere. It’s too much of the wrong note. — Zoe Williams (@zowirose) March 9, 2019

I’m losing support for her everyday. — zip (@zippo1155) March 9, 2019

Lol. Can’t imagine why Ilhan Omar just quietly deleted her tweet alleging ‘media distortion’ WHILE PROVIDING an audio link proving @TimAlberta didn’t distort anything…???? And @Ilhan, that *taste* is your foot in your mouth (probably used to it by now) pic.twitter.com/CAEm2DLm7u — Chet Cannon (@Chet_Cannon) March 9, 2019

What was she thinking? Not only is it comically absurd to post audio proving you are being less than truthful, but given her controversial nature, she needs all the media support she can get. Falsely shaming and attempting to undermine them is not a good move.



