Rep. Ilhan Omar tries to BLAME the reporter who quoted her saying Obama got 'away with murder' on drone strikes for 'distorting' her words, but then bizarrely releases audio that proves the journalist was right
A day after her comments prompted a House vote condemning anti-Semitism, Democratic Rep. Ilhan Omar landed herself in a new controversy by claiming a reporter misquoted her bashing former President Barack Obama – and then releasing audio of the interview that appears to back him up.
Omar, 37, told Politico Magazine that while she finds some of President Donald Trump's initiatives objectionable, Obama escaped the consequences of his own 'bad policies' because of his 'pretty face.'
After the news outlet quoted from the interview, Omar tweeted that the result was '[e]xhibit 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,' she added, along with a winking, tongue-out emoji and nearly two minutes of audio.
DailyMail.com reviewed and transcribed the recording, which supports what Politico reporter Tim Alberta wrote.
Alberta fired back at Omar in a tweet: '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.'
Rep. Ilhan Omar (D-Minn.) called out former President Barack Obama, comparing him to President Trump and saying 'many of the people who came before him also had really bad policies'
Omar discussed President Obama as she spoke about politicians who are 'polished' but still have 'bad policies'
Omar claimed Friday that the reporter who quoted her on Obama had distorted her words, and released a 2-minute audio clip from the interview – which indicated the journalist got it right
The first-term Minnesota congresswoman bashed the Obama administration's forceful use of military drone technology to try to take out terror networks, and likened Obama's policy of separating migrant adults and children at the U.S.-Mexico border to Trump's.
Obama's aggressive aerial hunt for al-Qaeda and other terror groups drew criticism from the left, leading him to reel it in after misjudgments came to light.
Omar also implied Obama was a politician with a 'pretty face' that masked his bad policy choices, an attack that is at odds with public approval ratings that historically earn Obama support in the high fifties with even more backing among members of his own party.
'We can't be only upset with Trump … His policies are bad, but many of the people who came before him also had really bad policies,' Politico quoted Omar saying.
'They just were more polished than he was,' Omar continued. 'And that's not what we should be looking for anymore. We don't want anybody to get away with murder because they are polished. We want to recognize the actual policies that are behind the pretty face and the smile,' she said.
House Speaker Nancy Pelosi (l) had to navigate challenging party dynamics this week and assemble a resolution
Omar criticized the Obama administration drone program, which drew criticism for insufficient oversight and some mishaps. Here local residents watch ongoing demolition of the compound where Al-Qaeda chief Osama bin Laden was slain last year in the northwestern town of Abbottabad on February 26, 2012
Her slam on the two-term Democratic president was published after the House passed a resolution condemning hate language on Thursday.
The legislative move was a response to comments from Omar that many of her colleagues deemed anti-Semitic. The charged fight over the resolution consumed lawmakers' attention this week, caused an internecine war among Democrats, and drew the media spotlight away from the sentencing of former Trump campaign chair Paul Manafort.
The final vote was 407 to 23 with one lawmaker voting present. All the no votes were Republicans.
Omar's comments had infuriated senior congressional Democrats, including some committee chairmen who are Jewish, and who publicly called out the use of anti-Semitic 'tropes.'
In the interview, Omar also drew comparisons between a crop of, new, progressive Democrats who are challenging party leaders and the conservative Tea Party.
'We look at the negative aspects of the Tea Party and not really at the part of them that spoke to the American people, that made them feel like there were people actively fighting for them,' she said. 'There's a resemblance there. A lot of us are not that much different in our eagerness to want to come here and fight for our constituents, fight for the American ideals we believe in.'
Among her comments that drew fire, Omar tweeted 'It's all about the Benjamins baby' to criticize lawmakers who support Israel.
Another remark by Omar raised criticism that she was reviving 'dual loyalty' attacks that have been used on Jews and other groups in the past.
Speaking about the Arab-Israeli conflict, Omar said, 'I want to talk about the political influence in this country that says it is okay to push for allegiance to a foreign country.'
Angry Jewish Democratic members pushed back their support for Israel was based on their own views, not money or loyalty to a foreign nation.
Said Florida Democratic Rep. Ted Deutch on the House floor: 'We are having this debate because of the language of one of our colleagues, language that suggests that Jews like me, who serve in the United States in Congress and whose father earned a Purple Heart fighting the Nazis in the Battle of the Bulge — that we are not loyal Americans?'
Omar's attacks on the popular former president are just the latest time the first-term lawmakers has found herself in controversy during just her third month in office.
Yemenis walk past a graffiti depicting a US drone, after alleged US drone raids killed dozens of Islamic State (IS) fighters, in Sana'a, Yemen, 17 October 2017. President Trump signed an executive order on 06 March 2019, ending an Obama-era policy requiring US intelligence officials to publish the number of people killed in targeted strikes
She entered Congress as one of several 'fresh face' lawmakers who drew attention for their vows to shake up the system. Having spent part of her youth in a Kenyan refugee camp after fleeing war-torn Somalia before immigrating to the U.S., Omar is one of the first two women Muslim members of Congress.
The House changed a rule that prohibited head-coverings on the House floor, allowing Omar to wear her traditional dress while casting votes.
The fight over the anti-Semitism resolution forced party leaders to contend with various constituent groups, as well as pushback from Omar allies and critics of Israel policy.
First they broadened the text of the resolution to include condemn Islamophobia and white supremacism after Omar's defenders said one form of hate should not be singled out. Omar herself has been the recipient of hateful attacks.
Then, minutes before the scheduled vote Thursday Democrats pulled it again, to add several groups not included in the original measure, including Latinos, Asian Americans, Pacific Islanders, and LGBTQ community.
Intervening from afar was President Trump, who on Friday before leaving town declared the Democrats an 'anti-Jewish' party after the conflagration.
