>>> REPUBLICANS ARE NOW ON DAY TWO OF THEIR LATEST SUSTAINED
ROUND OF BAD FAITH ATTACKS
AGAINST DEMOCRATIC CONGRESSWOMAN
TALIB.
TALIB. THIS TIME IT’S FOR EXPRESSING
THE PERSONAL MEANING SHE DERIVES
FROM HER ANCESTORS’ LAND IN WHAT
IS NOW ISRAEL BEING USED TO
CREATE A SAFE HAVEN FOR JEWS
AFTER THE HOLOCAUST.
THAT HAS BEEN TWISTED FROM AN
ACCUSATION OF ANTI-SEMITISM BY
THE REPUBLICAN NATIONAL
COMMITTEE CHAIR McDANIEL TO
ABSOLUTELY VILE REMARKS FROM
CONGRESSWOMAN LIZ CHENEY
SUGGESTING THAT TALIB WAS TRYING
TO DELEGITIMIZE ISRAEL.
AMONG HER SUPPORTERS IS
CONGRESSWOMAN ILHAN OMAR.
THEY ARE THE ONLY TWO MUSLIM
AMERICAN WOMEN IN CONGRESS AND
HAVE HAD EACH OTHER’S BACKS AS
THEY HAVE EACH ENDURED A SERIES
OF ATTACKS.
OF ATTACKS. TODAY CONGRESSWOMAN OMAR ALONG
WITH HER JEWISH COLLEAGUE WROTE
AN OP-ED IN BUILDING ALLIANCES
AND FOR AN END TO BIGOTRY.
ILHAN OMAR IS HERE WITH ME NOW.
CONGRESSWOMAN, I WANT TO TALK
ABOUT YOUR OP-ED BUT FIRST I
WANT TO ASK HOW YOU GIVEN THE
EXPERIENCE YOU’VE HAD IN THE
SORT OF CENTER OF FIRESTORMS,
HOW YOU ARE INTERPRETING WHAT IS
HAPPENING WITH RESPECT TO YOUR
COLLEAGUE’S COMMENTS?
COLLEAGUE’S COMMENTS? >> HI, CHRIS.
IT’S REALLY GOOD TO BE HERE WITH
YOU.
YOU. I TELL MY SISTER, RASHIDA TALIB,
HER AND I HAVE THE STRENGTH TO
ENDURE ANY OF THE
MISCHARACTERIZATION OR EFFORTS
TO DISTORT AND VILIFY OUR
MESSAGE.
MESSAGE. I THINK WE ARE SEEING WHAT
HAPPENS WHEN PEOPLE REALLY SEE
THESE ATTACKS FOR WHAT THEY ARE.
IT IS DESIGNED TO SILENCE SIGHT
LINE AND SORT OF ALMOST
ELIMINATE PUBLIC VOICE OF
MUSLIMS FROM THE PUBLIC
DISCOURSE.
DISCOURSE. I’M EXCITED WE HAVE AN
OPPORTUNITY TO BUILD AND PUSH
BACK AND FIGHT THIS ATTEMPT TO
MARGINALIZE OUR VOICE.
>> I WONDER WHAT YOUR EXPERIENCE
HAS BEEN BECAUSE THERE HAVE
BEEN, I THINK, SOME FOLKS WHO
HAVE COME AFTER YOU AND SOME WHO
WERE OFFENDED IN GOOD FAITH BY
THINGS THAT YOU SAID OR TWEETED
ABOUT ALLEGIANCE TO ISRAEL OR A
TWEET ABOUT THE BENJAMINS,
VIS-A-VIS MONEY, AND FOLKS WHO
CONSIDER THEM SELVES
PROGRESSIVES OR JEWS AND
SKEPTICAL WHERE YOU WERE COMING
FROM.
FROM. WHAT HAVE YOU LEARNED AND WHAT
DO YOU SAY AS YOU SEEK TO BUILD
THIS ALLIANCE?
THIS ALLIANCE? >> THE ONE THING WE REALIZED WAS
THAT WHEN YOU SEE SOMETHING
WRONG, YOU USE YOUR INFLUENCE
AND YOUR VOICE TO SPEAK OUT
AGAINST IT AND WHAT WE HAVE
NOTICED IS THERE IS A THREAT.
OUR COMMUNITIES ARE BEING
TERRORIZED BY WHITE SUPREMACY.
WE’VE SEEN THE ATTACKS ON
SYNAGOGUES.
SYNAGOGUES. WE’VE SEEN THE LINKAGE THAT THEY
HAVE TO PEOPLE WHO SEEK TO
TERRORIZE MOSQUES.
TERRORIZE MOSQUES. WE NOTICE THAT THERE IS PEOPLE
ON THE RIGHT WING WHO ARE
FUELING THAT HATE.
THEIR MESSAGE IS BEING USED TO
FUEL THE SORT OF VIOLENCE
AGAINST BOTH OF OUR COMMUNITIES
BECAUSE OF OUR FAITH, AND IT IS
TIME FOR US TO MAKE SURE THAT WE
DON’T ALLOW FOR THEM TO USE ANY
MISUNDERSTANDING THERE MIGHT BE
TO DIVIDE US, THAT WE
COLLECTIVELY WORK TOGETHER
AGAINST THE COLLECTIVE HATE THAT
IS COMING FROM THE RIGHT WING
AND WHITE SUPREMACY.
>> WHEN THE PRESIDENT TWEETED
OUT A VIDEO A FEW WEEKS AGO, A
VIDEO OF YOU, COMMENTS YOU MADE
BEFORE C.A.R.E. WRENCHED, AGAIN,
SIMILAR TO THIS AND JUXTAPOSED
WITH SOME OF THE MOST HORRIFIC
IMAGES, THE DESTRUCTION OF THE
TWIN TOWERS, WHAT WAS THE EFFECT
OF THAT ON YOU PERSONALLY, ON
YOUR LIFE?
YOUR LIFE? DID THAT MATERIALLY CREATE
DANGER FOR YOU?
>> I WAS SPEAKING ABOUT THE
EROSION OF OUR CIVIL LIBERTIES
AS MUSLIMS IN THIS COUNTRY AND
OUR INABILITY REALLY TO EXIST AS
INDIVIDUALS, AND YOU CAN SEE
REALLY WHAT HAPPENS WHEN SOMEONE
LIKE THE PRESIDENT TWEETS
SOMETHING LIKE THAT.
IT’S NOT ONLY AN ATTACK ON
MYSELF BUT IT BECOMES AN ATTACK
ON ALL MUSLIMS AND AN ATTACK ON
WOMEN OF COLOR.
IT BECOMES AN ATTACK ON
IMMIGRANTS AND REFUGEES BECAUSE
THAT MESSAGE WAS REALLY BEING
USED TO SORT OF VILIFY EVERYONE
WHO SHARED AN IDENTITY WITH ME
TO SAY THAT YOU DON’T BELONG.
AND THEN I THINK THIS IS WHAT WE
SPEAK ABOUT IN OUR OP-ED.
THIS IS WHAT I HAVE REALLY USED
MY PLATFORM TO SPEAK ABOUT.
IT IS REALLY IMPORTANT FOR US TO
RECOGNIZE THAT WE ARE -- WE MUST
BE UNITED IN OUR DIVERSITY THAT
WE CAN’T ALLOW PEOPLE TO PIN US
AGAINST ONE ANOTHER.
WE HAVE TO RECOGNIZE THIS
COUNTRY IS ONE THAT IS BUILT FOR
ALL OF US, THAT AS MUCH OF A
CITIZEN AS I AM IS WHAT RASHIDA
IS AND WHAT MOST OF, YOU KNOW,
OUR COLLEAGUES AND OUR COMMITTEE
MEMBERS ARE.
MEMBERS ARE. IF WE ALLOW FOR PEOPLE TO TELL
US WHO IS IN AND WHO IS OUT,
THEN WE ALL GET TO LOSE.
SO THAT’S REALLY THE IMPORTANT
MESSAGE.
MESSAGE. >> A FINAL QUESTION FOR YOU.
YOU’RE A FRESHMAN MEMBER OF
CONGRESS.
CONGRESS. YOU REPRESENT A DISTRICT IN
MINNESOTA.
MINNESOTA. YOU HAVE BEEN THE TARGET OF A
LOT OF ATTACKS.
YOU SORT OF, I THINK, ELEVATED
BY CERTAIN FOLKS IN YOUR
POLITICAL OPPOSITION WHO VIEW
YOU AS A USEFUL RHETORICAL.
WHAT DO YOU WANT TO BE KNOWN
FOR?
FOR? IF YOU GET TO WRITE YOUR OWN
STORY ABOUT WHAT PEOPLE KNOW YOU
FOR, WHAT DO YOU WANT TO BE
KNOWN FOR?
KNOWN FOR? >> SO WHEN I AM IN THE DISTRICT
WHAT PEOPLE KNOW ME AS IS THIS
FIERCE FIGHTER FOR THEIR
PROGRESSIVE VALUES, SOMEONE WHO
UNDERSTANDS THAT WE CAN’T ONLY
FIGHT FOR INDIVIDUAL PROGRESS.
WE HAVE TO FIGHT FOR COLLECTIVE
PROGRESS.
PROGRESS. THEY KNOW THAT I AM OUT HERE
FIGHTING TO FREE THEM FROM THE
SHACKLES OF STUDENT DEBT, THAT
I’M OUT HERE TRYING TO MAKE SURE
THAT EVERY SINGLE PERSON HAS AN
OPPORTUNITY TO BE HOUSED, THAT
THERE IS NO MOTHER OR FATHER
GOING TO SLEEP CRYING BECAUSE
THEY DON’T KNOW WHERE THE NEXT
MEAL IS GOING TO COME TO FEED
THEIR FAMILIES, AND EVERYBODY
KNOWS THAT I AM A FIGHTER FOR A
MORE JUST AND SUSTAINABLE
SOCIETY.
SOCIETY. AND THAT’S WHAT PEOPLE ALREADY
KNOW ME AS.
I THINK EVERYTHING ELSE THAT YOU
MIGHT HEAR IN THE HEADLINES THAT
FEEDS INTO A PARTICULAR
NARRATIVE THAT PEOPLE WANT TO
FUEL TO SILENCE MY VOICE AND TO
MINIMIZE THE KIND OF WORK THAT I
WANT TO DO IN DRIVING FOR A MORE
JUST WORLD IS NOT SOMETHING THAT
THE PEOPLE THAT SEND ME AND
ENTRUSTED THEIR VOTES TO SEND ME
TO WASHINGTON TO REPRESENT THEM
KNOW ME AS AND I’M QUITE CONTENT
WITH THAT IN KNOWING THAT
THEY’RE HAPPY THAT I’M
REPRESENTING THEM AND FIGHTING
FOR THEM EVERY SINGLE DAY.