Congresswoman greeted by chanting supporters at airport as president defended rallygoers, saying they are ‘incredible patriots’

This article is more than 1 year old

This article is more than 1 year old

Representative Ilhan Omar was greeted by a throng of supporters as she arrived home in Minnesota, fresh off attacks from Donald Trump and his supporters that included chants of “send her back” at the president’s rally this week.

As Trump renewed his criticism of Omar on Friday, the freshman lawmaker received a strong display of support from constituents in her district who greeted her at the Minneapolis-St Paul airport on Thursday with chants of “Welcome home llhan”.

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The scenes unfolded against the backdrop of another contentious week in Washington, with Trump initially seeking to distance himself from the cries of “send her back” that erupted at his campaign rally in North Carolina on Wednesday.

After telling reporters he was “not happy” about the events and claiming he tried to stop it – despite footage from the rally showing the president looking on silently for more than 10 seconds as the crowd chanted “send her back” and doing nothing to intervene – Trump defended the rallygoers on Friday.

“Those are incredible people. Those are incredible patriots,” Trump told reporters at the White House.

He added: “You know what I’m unhappy with – the fact that a congresswoman can hate our country … That’s what I’m unhappy with.”

Earlier in the day, Trump revived his attacks on Omar, one of the first two Muslim women elected to Congress, in a Friday morning tweetstorm, branding her as “Foul Mouthed Omar”.

“It is amazing how the Fake News Media became ‘crazed’ over the chant ‘send her back’ by a packed Arena (a record) crowd in the Great State of North Carolina, but is totally calm & accepting of the most vile and disgusting statements made by the three Radical Left Congresswomen,” Trump tweeted, referencing not just Omar but also her colleagues, Representatives Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez of New York, Rashida Tlaib of Michigan and Ayanna Pressley of Massachusetts.

Facebook Twitter Pinterest Ilhan Omar speaks to supporters as she arrives at the Minneapolis-St Paul international airport in Minnesota on 18 July 2019. Photograph: Glen Stubbe/AP

Trump had attacked the four congresswomen of color earlier this week, stating they should “go back” to where they “came from”, in tweets that were widely condemned as racist. Three of the women were born in the US, while Omar is a naturalized American citizen who came to the country at a young age as a Somali refugee.

In his tweets on Friday, Trump continued to single out Omar by claiming her constituents in Minnesota “can’t stand her and her hatred of our Country”.

Trump and Republicans have repeatedly targeted Omar as the 2020 election kicks into full gear, in a sign that the president and his supporters will once again use race to animate their base.

But the chants of “send her back” at Trump’s rally, which were reminiscent of the “lock her up” rallying cry against Hillary Clinton in 2016, took the president’s controversial tactics to new heights.

Rabbi Avi Olitzky, a faith leader from Omar’s home district in Minnesota, likened the scene at Trump’s North Carolina rally to the days of Adolf Hitler.

“This is a very eerie wave of similar situations in history, be that Nazi Germany or elsewhere,” he told ABC News.

House Republican leaders also expressed their discomfort with the “send her back” chants in a closed-door meeting with the vice-president, Mike Pence, on Thursday. Representative Tom Cole, a Republican from Oklahoma, told reporters Pence “seemed as appalled by it as everybody else”.

Although Trump’s record of attacking minorities is well documented, his vilification of the four congresswomen of color has struck a chord beyond the confines of the US.

At a news conference on Friday, Germany’s chancellor, Angela Merkel, said Trump’s rhetoric “contradicts the strength of America”.

“People of very different nationalities have contributed to the strength of the American people, so these are … comments that very much run counter to this firm impression that I have,” Merkel said.

Leading UK politicians, including Jeremy Corbyn and Sadiq Khan, also expressed their support for Omar, Tlaib, Ocasio-Cortez and Pressley in a letter that condemned Trump for demonstrating “blatant, unashamed racism”.

Trump’s refusal to cease his attacks on Omar has nonetheless prompted concerns over the congresswoman’s safety. Top Democrats called on US authorities to evaluate Omar’s security in the wake of Trump’s rally, as well as that of her three colleagues.

“It’s crystal clear to me that her life is in imminent danger,” Bobby Rush, a senior member of the Congressional Black Caucus, said of Omar.

“He has threatened the safety of a member of Congress. That takes this to a whole different level.”

Ocasio-Cortez also accused Trump of putting the lives of “millions” of Americans” at risk, telling reporters: “His rhetoric is endangering lots of people.

“This is not just about threats to individual members of Congress,” she said. “It is about creating a volatile environment in this country through violent rhetoric that puts anyone, like Ilhan, anyone who believes in the rights of all people, in danger.”

Omar, for her part, was unbowed in the face of Trump’s attacks while addressing supporters back home.

“We are going to continue to be a nightmare to this president,” she said. “Because his policies are a nightmare to us.

“We are not deterred, we are not frightened, we are ready.”