FOLKS, MY NEXT GUEST MADE HISTORY THIS YEAR AS ONE
OF THE FIRST TWO MUSLIM-AMERICAN WOMEN ELECTED TO CONGRESS AND
THE VERY FIRST WOMAN OF COLOR TO REPRESENT THE GREAT STATE OF
MINNESOTA.
PLEASE WELCOME CONGRESSWOMAN ILHAN OMAR!
♪ ♪ ♪
>> Stephen: WELCOME TO THE SHOW.
>> THANK YOU FOR HAVING ME.
>> Stephen: NICE-- NICE TO MEET YOU.
>> YEAH.
>> Stephen: NICE TO MEET YOU.
I THINK-- I THINK WE-- I THINK WE BOOKED YOU A LONG TIME AGO TO
BE ON THE SHOW.
WE HAD THIS CONVERSATION A LONG TIME.
>> IT'S HARD TO GET TO NEW YORK.
>> Stephen: HARD TO GET UP TO NEW YORK?
>> REALLY HARD.
>> Stephen: THEY'VE GOT TRAINS NOW.
A LOT HAS HAPPENED SINCE YOU TOOK OFFICE, OKAY.
>> RIGHT.
>> Stephen: A LOT OF TALK ABOUT YOU.
>> YEAH.
>> Stephen: IN THE NEWS.
IN THE RIGHT-WING MEDIA.
AMONG THE DEMOCRATS.
YOU'VE BECOME A LIGHTNING ROD CERTAINLY FOR THE PEOPLE ON THE
RIGHT AND FOR SOME DEMOCRATS, TOO.
WOULD YOU LIKE ME TO GO THROUGH THE TIMELINE OF THE LIGHTNING
RODDING?
OR WOULD YOU LIKE TO EXPLAIN HOW YOU PERCEIVE BECOMING A
LIGHTNING ROD FOR PEOPLE?
BECAUSE THAT'S A BIG PART OF YOUR STORY RIGHT OFF THE BAT IN
YOUR SERVICE.
>> YEAH.
I MEAN, IF YOU THINK ABOUT, YOU KNOW, HISTORICALLY WHERE OUR
NATION IS AT RIGHT NOW, THERE ARE MANY MEMBERS OF OUR
COMMUNITY, THAT THEIR IDENTITIES ARE A LIGHTNING ROD, RIGHT.
THEY'RE BEING USED AS POLITICAL FOOTBALL.
YOU'RE TALKING ABOUT IMMIGRANTS.
REFUGEES, WOMAN OF COLOR, PEOPLE OF COLOR, MINORITIES.
AND I JUST HAPPENED -- >> Stephen: MUSLIMS
SPECIFICALLY.
>> MUSLIMS SPECIFICALLY.
AND I JUST HAPPEN TO EMBODY ALL OF THOSE IDENTITIES.
SO IT'S EASY FOR-- FOR THIS TO KIND OF BE SELF-EXPLANATORY.
>> Stephen: WELL, YOU WERE CRITICIZED FOR SAYING SOME
THINGS THAT SOME PEOPLE ON THE RIGHT, SPECIFICALLY, BUT ALSO
SOME DEMOCRATS, SAW AS BEING POSSIBLY ANTI-SEMITIC.
YOU GOT SOME SUPPORT FROM SOME PEOPLE-- I THINK GLENN GREENWALD
MIGHT HAVE TWEETED IN SUMMIT OF YOU, AND YOU TWEETED BACK TO HIM
THAT THE ATTACKS ON YOU WERE ALL ABOUT THE BENJAMINS, MEAN APAC
AND LOBBYIST FOR THE STATE OF ISRAEL.
BY SAYING, THAT YOU WERE ACCUSED ANTI-SEMITISM AGAIN.
WHAT DOES IT-- YOU THEN APOLOGIZED AT THE INSISTENCE OF
NANCY PELOSI.
SO IT'S NOT JUST REPUBLICANS WHO HAD PROBLEMS WITH WHAT YOU HAD
SAID OR DONE.
IT WAS ALSO SOME DEMOCRATS.
WHAT WAS THAT PROCESS LIKE?
WHAT WAS IT LIKE TO... BE A CUDDLE LIKE THAT, BEING USED AS
A POLITICAL CUDGEL RIGHT WHEN YOU BEGAN YOUR SERVICE?
>> THIS WHOLE PROCESS HAS REALLY BEEN ONE OF GROWTH FOR ME,
RIGHT.
BECAUSE, YOU KNOW, THERE ARE-- I WAS HAVING A CONVERSATION WITH
MY PREDECESSOR, CONGRESSMAN KEITH ELLISON, WHO IS NOW
ATTORNEY GENERAL KEITH ELLISON.
AND WE WERE-- WE WERE TALKING ABOUT SOME-- SOME THINGS THAT
ARE HISTORICALLY OFFENSIVE TO AFRICAN AMERICANS.
AND HE'S GOING THROUGH A LIST.
AND I SAID, "I MEAN, I WOULDN'T BE OFFENDED BY THOSE THINGS."
AND HE SAID, "WELL, YOU'RE AN AFRICAN IMMIGRANT.
NONE OF THOSE THINGS HOLD HISTORY FOR YOU."
SO OFTENTIMES WHEN YOU ARE SPEAKING, YOU MIGHT NOT
UNDERSTAND THE HISTORICAL CONTEXT OF SOME OF THE WORDS
THAT YOU MIGHT USE AND THE KIND OF PAIN THAT IT MIGHT INCITE FOR
PEOPLE.
SO IN-- IN THIS PROCESS, I'M LEARNING THAT EVERYTHING IS NOT
AS SIMPLE AS WE MIGHT THINK WE MIGHT WANT TO STATE IT.
AND AS I'VE SAID TO, YOU KNOW, MY CONSTITUENTS, TO MY
COLLEAGUES, WHEN YOU TELL ME THAT YOU ARE PAINED BY SOMETHING
THAT I SAY, I WILL ALWAYS LISTEN, AND I WILL ACKNOWLEDGE
YOUR PAIN.
IT'S THE SAME THEY EXPECT.
SO WHEN YOU HAVE PEOPLE ON FOX NEWS THAT QUESTION WHETHER I AM
ACTUALLY AMERICAN OR I PUT AMERICA FIRST, I EXPECT MY
COLLEAGUES TO ALSO SAY, "THAT'S NOT OKAY."
THEY SHOULD CALL THAT OUT.
>> Stephen: ON THE "FOX AND FRIENDS" THIS MORNING.
>> OR WHEN THEY CALL ME A TERRORIST.
OR WHEN PEOPLE SAY, YOU KNOW, THAT BECAUSE I-- I'M A MUSLIM,
I'M AN IMMIGRANT, I'M A REFUGEE, THAT I CAN'T HAVE ANY LOYALTY TO
OUR COUNTRY.
I TOOK AN OATH.
I TOOK AN OATH TO UPHOLD THE CONSTITUTION.
I AM AS AMERICAN AS EVERYONE ELSE IS.
( CHEERS AND APPLAUSE ) AND-- AND THIS KIND OF DOUBLE
STANDARD REALLY IS QUITE, YOU KNOW, OFFENSIVE, AND IS VERY
MUCH EMBEDDED IN A LOT OF OUR CULTURE THESE DAYS, WHERE YOU
WILL HAVE PEOPLE GET-- COME AFTER MINORITIES FOR THINGS THAT
THEY SAY, THEY MIGHT HAVE INSIGNEUATED, BUT NO ONE GOES
AFTER PEOPLE LIKE THE FOLKS ON "FOX & FRIENDS," THAT ACTUALLY
SAY THOSE WORDS.
IT'S NOT ABOUT INSINUATION.
RIGHT.
THEY ACTUALLY SAID THAT I MIGHT NOT BE AN AMERICAN.
MY LOYALTIES MIGHT NOT BE TO THIS COUNTRY.
BUT I GET CALLED OUT.
THEY DON'T.
THEY GET TO KEEP THEIR SHOW.
>> Stephen: I WOULD SAY THAT GOES AS FAR AS ME, TOO.
I WAS-- WHEN I HEARD THAT YOU HAD BEEN-- YOU HAD SAID THAT I
BELIEVED THAT STEPHEN MILLER IS A WHITE NATIONALIST.
>> UH-HUH.
>> Stephen: AND YOU GOT A LOT OF HEAT FOR THAT.
I THOUGHT-- HAVEN'T I SAID THAT?
HAVEN'T I ACTUALLY-- DON'T WE MAKE JOKES ABOUT THAT ALL THE
TIME ON THIS SHOW?
IT'S UNFAIR.
YOU GET ATTACKED, "A," BECAUSE OF SOME OF THE HISTORY YOU
ALREADY HAVE AS BEING A CUDGEL IN THE AREA OF ANTI-SEMITISM,
ACCUSATIONS, REGARDLESS OF YOUR APOLOGY.
BUT ALSO I THINK BECAUSE YOU'RE A MUSLIM, BECAUSE YOU'RE A
WOMAN, BECAUSE YOU'RE A PERSON OF COLOR, YOU'RE GIVEN LESS
LATITUDE THAN SOMEBODY LIKE ME.
>> CONGRESSMAN MARK SPOKANE SAID THAT LAST YEAR HE CALLED STEPHEN
MILLER A WHITE SUPREMACIST, AND YOU SEE THIS OUTRAGE WHEN I
SPEAK THE TRUTH.
EVERYONE ELSE'S TRUTH IS ALLOWED BUT MY TRUTH CAN NEVER BE.
>> Stephen: WE'VE GOT TO GO HERE IN JUST A SECOND.
BUT JUST BEFORE I GO.
I WANT TO SHOW THIS.
THIS IS A REALLY LOVELY PICTURE.
THIS IS YOU AND THE SPEAKER SWEARING YOU IN.
IS THIS YOUR FAMILY?
>> IT IS.
LET ME SEE.
YES.
( APPLAUSE )
>> MY DAUGHTER, MY SON.
( APPLAUSE )
>> Stephen: NANCY PELOSI IS HERE SWEARING YOU IN.
>> YES.
>> Stephen: SHE-- SHE SAID THAT YOU SHOULD HAVE APOLOGIZED.
SHE ASKED YOU TO APOLOGIZE.
SHE AND OTHER MEMBERS OF BOTH THE REPUBLICAN AND THE
DEMOCRATIC PARTY HAVE SAID TO NEW MEMBERS A LOT OF NEW,
OUTSPOKEN QUITE NOTED NEW MEMBERS OF CONGRESS, TO
BASICALLY SLOW DOWN, DON'T DO TOO MUCH, BACK EVERYONE IT, SEE
HOW EVERYTHING WORKS, YOU KNOW, FIND OUT WHERE THE BATHROOMS ARE
AND, YOU KNOW, AND WHERE THE COPY MACHINE IS BEFORE YOU START
MAKING WAVES.
WHAT DO YOU SAY TO THOSE PEOPLE WHO SAY, "GO SLOW"?
>> AH, I THINK NANCY KNOWS THIS VERY WELL.
WOMEN VERY TOLD TO GO SLOW AND NOT BE SEEN AND NOT BE HEARD FOR
MANY YEARS.
AND SHE WOULDN'T HAVE MADE IT TO WHERE SHE IS IF HE DID.
AND IT'S CERTAINLY THE CASE FOR MINORITY WOMEN, AND THE THREE OF
US ARE MINORITIES AND PEOPLE OF COLOR.
WE ARE NOT THERE TO BE QUIET.
WE ARE NOT THERE TO BE INVISIBLE.
( CHEERS AND APPLAUSE ) WE ARE-- WE ARE THERE TO FOLLOW
THE LEAD OF PEOPLE LIKE CONGRESSMAN JOHN LEWIS AND MAKE
GOOD TROUBLE.
>> Stephen: WELL, THANK YOU FOR BEING HERE.
>> THANK YOU VERYING IF ME.
CONGRESSWOMAN ILHAN OMAR, EVERYBODY!
WE'LL BE RIGHT BACK.